Warriors: Recovery of the Clans: New Life
by KJM199914
Summary: A silver tabby cat is born to a kittypet during a green-cough break-out in the forest. For about six moons after her birth the Clans think that her mother was their savour, but now the silver tabby will begin to understand that her mother had only been there to give birth to the cat who would truly save them all. Follow her through her journey here.
1. Allegiances & Prologue

**Allegiances**

TreeClan

**Leader (Bravestar)**: old, slender, long haired, brave white tom with a bobbed tail and dull green eyes; oldest cat in the Clan.

**Deputy (Swiftfoot)**: tall white/brown tabby tom with blazing green eyes and a long furry tail.

**Medicine Cat (Rootpath)**: short cream she-cat with dark brown tabby stripes, gentle green eyes; deaf in one ear.

**Rootpath's Apprentice (Dovepaw)**: brown she-cat with dark grey flecks and piercing brown eyes.

**Warriors**

**(Hawktalon)**: pale yellow tom with brown eyes and unusually long claws.

**Queens**

**(Cloudwhisper)**: beautiful light grey she-cat with brown eyes.

BreezeClan

**Leader (Tigerstar)**: dark brown she-cat with dark brown eyes.

**Deputy (Blackfang)**: black she-cat with green eyes and a bobbed tail.

**Queens**

**(Shadespots)**: tortoiseshell she-cat with bright green eyes.

StreamClan

**Leader (Silverstar)**: silver she-cat with green eyes.

**Deputy (Sandfur)**: sandy coloured tom with dull green eyes.

DarkClan

**Leader (Redstar)**: dark brown/reddish tom with brown eyes.

**Deputy (Coyotepelt)**: red and white tabby she-cat with dark grey eyes.

**Prologue**

On a full moon a beautiful queen known as Cloudwhisper gave birth to her two beautiful kits while her Clan, TreeClan, was at the gathering. The only cats who had witnessed the birth of her kits were Hawktalon and Swiftfoot. The two toms had volunteered to stay back and protect camp.

The first kit that was born was the smaller of the two. She was a beautiful she-cat just like her mother with light grey fur, silvery tabby stripes, and big, round, brown eyes. She seemed to be very shy and quiet but Cloudwhisper knew that one day that would change.

The second kit that was born was much larger than the average kit. He had a well-built brown tabby body with large brown eyes just like his sister. Cloudwhisper knew he would be stubborn but very brave and that he would make a fine warrior all while protecting his sister for as long as he lived.

When the gathering had ended and the rest of TreeClan had returned home, the sun was rising into the sky giving it a blood orange like colour. Their leader Bravestar announced the birth of the two beautiful kits to the Clan as a whole.

"Silverkit and Bravekit will be great new warriors in our Clan one day." He said confidently.

After the two kits had been born, the forest seemed to be peaceful even if there weren't many cats left in the forest. TreeClan now knew that thanks to Cloudwhisper and her new kits, TreeClan would be strong once again someday.


	2. Chapter 1

Silverkit padded over to the stump that rested just outside of the nursery and leapt up onto it to look around camp. She had grown since birth but she was still rather small. As she looked over the camp she noticed Bravestar and Swiftfoot chatting in the center of camp, Dovepaw checking Hawktalon's paw for a thorn by Rootpath's den, and Rootpath sorting through different berries nearby.

"Don't be so loud. The Clan just woke up." Cloudwhisper whispered angrily as Bravekit tumbled out of the nursery yowling on and on about his 'incredible' dream. From what Silverkit could hear through the tangle of words he had caught a bunch of plump mice, a pile as tall as their mother.

"You said the Clan would get bigger as we got older but it's still just as small as it was a moon ago." Silverkit mewed, her voice sweet and gentle. "Did you lie to us?"

Cloudwhisper grabbed Silverkit by the scruff and placed her on the ground in front of her. She looked at her with gentle eyes and murmured, "No dear, I would never tell lies to any cat in this Clan. When I said as you get older I meant when you are apprentices or warriors. It takes time for a Clan to rebuild itself."

Bravekit leapt up at Silverkit, knocking her off the stump, pinning her down, and cuffing her ears playfully. Even though he hadn't meant to hurt her he had knocked the air out of her easily being bigger than she was. She squeaked uncomfortably before she mewed in annoyance, using the air she had left in her lungs, "How did the Clan become so small?" She twisted her head around so she could look at her mother.

Cloudwhisper sighed and closed her eyes as if she was letting the memories flood back to her mind. "Rootpath has explained green cough to you I'm sure by now. Many moons ago before I knew I was pregnant with you, the illness had spread quickly through the forest and killed many cats until there were very few in each of the four Clans." As she had explained she had kept her eyes closed.

Cloudwhisper opened her eyes after a few heartbeats and they sparkled like the stars did when the sky turned dark. "You remember how I told you I used to be a kittypet right? Well a StarClan cat met me in my dreams when I lived with the twolegs and told me that I had to warn and save the forest. When I had gotten here I realized I was too late but then I knew that I had been led to the forest to give my kits and myself to the Clan as well."

Silverkit pricked her ears and listened to her mother purr. She continued to listen intently as her mother went on.

"Ever since then I have stayed in TreeClan but a moon after I had arrived, I discovered I was carrying you kits. I had wanted to go back to the twolegs for good but when I travelled back I realized your father was no longer there. So since the Clan needed an extra warrior, I returned."

Silverkit picturing every detail her mother described to them in her mind. "Couldn't they have done something, like kill it?"

Cloudwhisper nuzzled her before shaking her head and meowing, "You can't kill green cough. You will understand more as you grow older though, don't worry." She then looked away with grief as she probably remembered all the looks in the dying cats' eyes.

"The dying though could've possibly been stopped with catmint, a delicious and sweet smelling plant that can heal any cat being affected by green cough if the cat of course is strong enough. It would've been used before it got too serious but no catmint could be found until moons after so many cats had died."

Silverkit's eyes widened with fear and she looked around fearfully. "Do you think green cough will find us and kill us too?" She dove underneath her mother and mewled in fear not knowing if she was truly safe in the forest. "Do we have catmint now?"

Silverkit looked at Bravekit, annoyed, and growled when the brown tabby tom yowled, "Of course green cough will! He sounds strong and awesome just like me! Who needs catmint when you got claws?" The young tom then unsheathed his claws and reared up on his hind legs as he pretended to shred the air.

Cloudwhisper purred softly before she meowed reassuringly, "Green cough is an illness. It isn't a cat who will shred your tail Bravekit. Trust me when I say that green cough as long as I'm alive, will not harm you."

Silverkit let out a sigh of relief and mewled, "Can I go see Dovepaw or Rootpath and ask them about catmint?" She turned to Bravekit with pricked ears and wondering eyes. "Want to come with me?"

Cloudwhisper nodded silently as Bravekit meowed, "And meet the enemy of the awesome green cough? No way!" Silverkit said nothing and just padded off toward her medicine cat while rolling her eyes at her brother.

Rootpath must haven't of heard Silverkit coming because she had jumped up and turned away from her pile of berries to look at her panicked. The she-cat was always very paranoid since she was deaf in one ear.

"Silverkit, you spooked me. Is something wrong? Are you sick? Do you have a thorn in your paw?" The medicine cat shut her muzzle and turned back to her pile of berries. She looked as if she was in a rush.

Silverkit looked at the medicine cat with wide eyes and mewed, "I'm fine but I would like you to teach me more about catmint please." Rootpath turned around and looked at her. She seemed confused for a heartbeat but she called for Dovepaw anyway.

Dovepaw rushed over with Hawktalon by her side, looking rather worried. "Is Silverkit alright?" Dovepaw asked as she nuzzled Silverkit's side to check her over. Silverkit squeaked in surprise and moved away slowly, not quite sure why the older she-cat was touching her.

Dovepaw's brown pelt seemed light and soft in the sunlight and even though she was an apprentice she was almost as old as the young warrior Hawktalon. The rumours that Silverkit had heard led her to believe that if Dovepaw hadn't chosen the path of a medicine cat that the two might would be together.

"Lay down you're fur Dovepaw, you look like you've seen a dozen badgers!" Rootpath hissed. "Everything is just fine, but Silverkit here would like to learn more about catmint. You know kits can be very curious." She turned back to her pile of berries and started sniffing them busily. "Since you are good with kits and probably won't want to rip her tail off because of all the questions, I would like you to teach her."

Dovepaw bowed her head respectfully to her mentor and meowed, "Of course Rootpath." She then shook out her pelt before she went into the medicine cat den. Silverkit was about to go after her but decided to wait patiently outside since she hadn't been asked to follow.

Hawktalon glanced over at Silverkit and meowed, "Why do you want to know about catmint anyway Silverkit? Are you thinking of being a medicine cat like Rootpath and Dovepaw?" He then looked off after Dovepaw with loving and caring eyes, sighing deeply.

Silverkit looked at Hawktalon and tilted her head at the expression on his face as he looked after Dovepaw. "No. My mother told me about green cough and how catmint could save a cat from it." She turned her head and watched as Dovepaw padded out from the medicine cat den with fuzzy green plants hanging out of her mouth. "Why do you look at her that way?"

Hawktalon opened his mouth to reply to her but he closed his jaws tightly deciding not to reply. He just looked at Dovepaw as she walked over and Silverkit could see that her eyes sparkled in the sunlight as she looked towards them.

"This is catmint Silverkit," Dovepaw began. "It is used to help cats who get the illnesses known as green cough or white cough. Green cough and white cough affect the way a cat breathes and basically makes you feel terrible." Dovepaw glanced up Hawktalon and then at her paws with an embarrassed purr.

Silverkit stepped forward and smelt the catmint her eyes widening in surprise. "Cloudwhisper was right. It does smell amazing!" She cheered softly as she rolled around in the catmint, wanting to smell just like it.

Rootpath turned her head to watch Silverkit before she laughed from where she stood and meowed, "Well clearly I can't feed that to any sick cat now can I?" The tabby-striped she-cat lowered her ears against her head as she focused on her duties. "Why don't you take it back to the nursery with you Silverkit and show it to Bravekit and Cloudwhisper?"

Silverkit jumped up excitedly and nodded to Rootpath before she grabbed the catmint as best as she could in her little mouth. She rushed over to the nursery tripping every so often on the way as the catmint tripped her. "Look," she mewled through the leaves of the catmint. "I have catmint!"

Bravekit darted out of the nursery hyper and leapt onto both the catmint and her yowling angrily. He began batting at the delicious smelling plant for a while before he stopped and started sniffing it. "It smells great," he mewed before he plopped down and rolled around purring loudly. He not only got the scent all over him but dirt as well.

Cloudwhisper padded out of the nursery after Bravekit angrily. "Shush Bravekit. You'll panic the whole Clan." She had a look of horror and worry in her eyes and she looked like she had just been in a fight. Her fur was covered in moss and dust, her tail lashing back and forth.

Bravekit noticed just as well as Silverkit had and asked, "Did you get into a fight without me?" He looked betrayed as he looked away angrily letting out a loud huff.

Silverkit pressed her nose to her brother's shoulder and meowed, "That's a good thing." She then padded over to her mother and began grooming her fur. "_Did_ you get into a fight?"

Cloudwhisper lied down, her eyes looking suddenly exhausted with no life left in them. "I have not gotten into a fight my dears but when Bravekit was beating up a flower and you, Silverkit, were talking to Rootpath and Dovepaw I tried to take a nap. When I had fallen asleep I had a terrible dream." The queen shook the moss from her pelt and looked at them worriedly. "I must've been rolling around. I'm not scared now because I know that it wasn't real but it did feel somewhat real because I'm exhausted."

Silverkit listened intently before she asked, "What was the dream about?" She stepped back with fear. She was afraid that the dream would spook her and for some reason her small mind seemed to think that moving back would help.

Cloudwhisper nuzzled her quietly before whispering into her ear. "I'm not sure what happened. But it definitely wasn't a good thing." She then stood up, backing away. "It's one of those dreams that should be discussed with a medicine cat. So that is what I am going to do." She shook the moss out from her pelt and sunk her claws into the ground. "Stay put until I return." she ordered. The queen then padded off toward Rootpath who greeted her before they both disappeared quickly into the medicine cat den.

"What should we do now?" Bravekit asked Silverkit but she wasn't listening. Instead she was gazing over at Hawktalon and Dovepaw who were alone outside of the medicine cat den talking and staring into each other's eyes lovingly. Silverkit knew that it was against the warrior code for a medicine cat to have a mate or kits but she thought that Dovepaw and Hawktalon were adorable and belonged together.

"I'm going to go talk to them. You can go chase your tail or something," she told her brother.

"I'm not a dog!" Bravekit meowed angrily. He then pricked his ears and began chasing after his tail just like a dog would. Silverkit rolled her eyes and padded silently over to the two cats that still hadn't stopped staring lovingly at each other.

"If you two keep staring at each other like that, the Clan's going to start rumours." Silverkit teased as she sat between them and looked up. "Dovepaw I need to ask you a question."

As soon as Silverkit had come over Dovepaw had blushed with embarrassment and looked away but Hawktalon still gazed at her, purring with amusement. The medicine cat apprentice looked down at Silverkit and meowed, "Of course Silverkit, what is it?"

Silverkit flicked her tail from side to side and pricked ears as she thought for a moment. She seemed to have forgotten what she was going to ask but quickly remembered. "Oh!" She jumped up proudly and meowed clearly, "Why are you still an apprentice? Will I be an apprentice soon?"

Dovepaw looked up at Hawktalon for a heartbeat before she looked back down at Silverkit. Their brown eyed gazes clicked and the brown she-cat began to explain. "A medicine cat's naming ceremony is different than a warriors. When Rootpath is sure I'm a hundred percent ready she will take me to the moontree and I will get my name, then when Rootpath, StarClan forbid, passes on I will be the new medicine cat." She stretched, sticking her tail into the air before answering Silverkit's second question, "You will be an apprentice when you turn six moons old."

Silverkit blinked and meowed, "That's a lot to remember but alright." She looked up at Hawktalon who was still gazing at Dovepaw and poked at his paw with her own. She knew a question that would get the young tom paying attention to the world around him, "What's a mate?"

Dovepaw nudged Hawktalon and whispered something into his ear, something Silverkit was not able to catch, before she padded off into the medicine cat den.

Hawktalon followed her with his gaze until she was out of sight before he glanced down at Silverkit flicking his ears around awkwardly. "Shouldn't you ask Cloudwhisper?"

Silverkit made sure her claws were sheathed before she batted up at his muzzle playfully and shook her head. "Cloudwhisper wouldn't tell me." She looked around before whispering, "But I do know Cloudwhisper had one and I know you wish someone was yours." She winked and looked around again to make sure no one was watching.

Hawktalon narrowed his eyes at Silverkit and crouched down to whisper so only she could hear. "I get it kit, but it is none of your business so please get out of my business." He then sat himself and calmed himself down before he continued, "A mate is a cat who you should love forever and is the only cat you should ever love. Your mate should be the only cat you ever have kits with. It's hard to describe in more detail but you'll figure it out eventually when you are older."

Silverkit nodded slightly feeling uncomfortable. She felt as if she had gotten into trouble and was being pretty much threatened. "I understand kind of…" She walked away before she turned around, a tail-length away. "But I have one more question. Does she know?"

Hawktalon growled before he sighed and looked at his paws in silence. He didn't say anything and he didn't move a muscle but Silverkit knew that he didn't know how to reply. She headed over towards her brother who was crouching down ready to leap on a butterfly who had landed on a flower just in front of him.

"Boo," she mewed loudly, the butterfly flying off into the bushes out of fear. Bravekit jumped scared to his paws and puffed out his fur before he arched his back and growled. He narrowed his eyes at Silverkit and growled as he lashed his tail in frustration.

"May I help you? I almost had it!" He hissed angrily at her before he turned his back on her.

Silverkit looked at Bravekit. She was shocked with his reaction and she pressed her ears against her head. Her feelings had been hurt by her brother's attitude. "I know but I was just trying to play around…" She pushed past the thought of her brother's negative attitude and mewed, "Did Cloudwhisper go back to the nursery yet?"

Bravekit shrugged his shoulders and pricked his ears when Bravestar called out the traditional words, "Will all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under the highrock for a Clan meeting." Silverkit stayed where she was and flicked her tail telling Bravekit to do the same. They both looked over at Bravestar who was now on the highrock and at Swiftfoot, their mother, and Rootpath who stood at the sides of the highrock with wide eyes impatient eyes.

"Do you think Cloudwhisper's dream was important?" Silverkit asked quietly as she waited for Bravestar to speak. She watched as Dovepaw and Hawktalon made their way through camp and sat in front of the other cats shoulder to shoulder looking as close as two cats could be.

Silverkit glanced back up at Bravestar whose eyes were dull and noticed he looked scrawny, weak, and older than ever.

"Cloudwhisper has had an unordinary dream." Bravestar began. "Rootpath and I have decided that it should be shared with the rest of the group." He spoke as if he had given up hope for his Clan. "Cloudwhisper please describe your dream."

Cloudwhisper nodded and stared down at her paws. "There was a shadow like figure that only appeared when a bolt of lightning streaked through the sky. I heard crackling." Her eyes clouded over with fear as she continued, "I felt the earth shake below me and I heard panicked yowls. One thing that stood out in the entire dream was one cat's cry." She shivered and looked out over the gathering cats. "I don't know whose it was, but I'm convinced that it was a cat from our Clan and that it's very familiar to me."

Silverkit narrowed her eyes at her mother and watched as she glanced over at Dovepaw and Hawktalon before looking back over at Bravestar. Silverkit shuffled her paws and hoped that no other cat had noticed her mother glancing directly down at the forbidden lovebirds.

She turned to Bravekit who was resting his head on his paws with closed eyes and rolled her eyes. She cuffed him over the ears playfully with her forepaws to wake him up. The startled tom leapt to his paws, his tail puffed out in fear. Silverkit purred in amusement before she walked to the nursery with a wide yawn. Being a kit believe it or not was exhausting sometimes.


	3. Chapter 2

Silverkit woke up the next morning, cuddled up beside her brother. She had been startled by a loud wail. She looked over at her mother who was already standing and peeking out into the clearing from the entrance of the den. "Stay here," she whispered before she padded out of the nursery quietly.

Silverkit waited a few moments to see if her mother would return but she didn't. She nudged her brother's belly with her muzzle as she tried to wake him up but it was no use. He was a heavy sleeper and woke up on his own time. She padded to the entrance of the den and poked her head out as her mother had to see that the clearing was empty and silent as if no cat lived there. Shaking in fear, she padded out into the clearing.

"Silverkit," Bravekit meowed as he padded out of the nursery after her with a confused look. "Where are you going? Where is everyone?"

Silverkit sighed knowing he must have woken up as she had left. "I don't know, stay with me." She whipped her head around when she heard movement from the entrance of Bravestar's den. She sighed with relief and watched Dovepaw walk from there to Rootpath's den giving only a little glance towards them. Silverkit watched surprised as Hawktalon darted after her meowing words that Silverkit wasn't able to hear because he had been speaking extremely fast.

Silverkit breathed heavily with worry wondering if the Clan knew how Dovepaw and Hawktalon cared for each other. She wondered if maybe Rootpath had abandoned her as an apprentice or if Bravestar had exiled her from the Clan.

"Come on." Bravekit mewed, interrupting Silverkit's thoughts. He darted toward Bravestar's den. Silverkit watched him for a heartbeat before followed after him quickly and crawled nervously through the entrance.

"Hello?" she whispered. "What's happened?" When she made it through the bracken that acted as a protective wall for the den she narrowed her eyes to the scene in front of her in shock.

Bravestar lied beside his nest on the ground, his head tilted back and his eyes lifeless. His legs were sprawled out across the ground as if he had been struggling for his final life.

Rootpath padded over to Silverkit and whispered, her eyes filled with sorrow and sadness, "Bravestar has lost his last life somehow in his sleep." Rootpath looked away, sadness sweeping over her face. "He peacefully drifted off to StarClan and his life will forever be honoured."

Silverkit's eyes widened and she lowered herself to the ground feeling dizzy and uneasy. "You, you mean he's dead?" Silverkit stuttered her words feeling confused and afraid. She looked at Bravekit who had tears rolling down his muzzle. Her brother had looked up to Bravestar and had been exactly like a younger version of him. Silverkit began to wail out in grief.

Cloudwhisper padded over to them and curled her tail around them her eyes glazed over in emotional pain. "It's alright my dears… Everything will be alright I promise."

Silverkit moved away not wanting to be comforted and cuddled. She looked around the suddenly cold den to see that Swiftfoot was grooming Bravestar's fur as his final goodbye while Rootpath was sorting some purple flowers that hid the scent of death from the den.

"Who will lead the Clan?" She blurted out worriedly.

Swiftfoot stopped licking Bravestar's fur as if he suddenly came to a realization and looked over at her. "I will," he mumbled. He seemed to gain more confidence as he stood up and lifted his head proudly. "I was appointed deputy to help him lead the Clan and to one day take his place." He looked down at Bravestar and whispered to the cats around him, "As soon as I am done saying my goodbyes I will go and visit the moontree. I will get my name and lives and return home safely, hopefully by sunrise."

The brown tabby and white tom looked at the medicine cat who had finished laying down the purple flowers over Bravestar. "Rootpath, will you accompany me? I'm sure Dovepaw can handle the medicine cat duties for a little while. I'll get Hawktalon to come with us as well."

Cloudwhisper jumped to her paws and growled. "You are going to leave me, my kits, and Dovepaw here at camp alone? I am weak from raising my kits and could barely fight before I had them!" She glanced over at Rootpath and meowed, "Dovepaw isn't the best fighter either and you know that." She looked back at Swiftfoot with wide eyes, filled with fear.

"What if the other Clans try to attack us and take over our territory? They could kill us if they have more cats in their Clans now!" Silverkit watched as she looked over at her with worried eyes. Her fear scent now flooded the den, overtaking the purple flower scent.

Silverkit looked back at her mother nervously and then at Swiftfoot. She was even more scared than she had already been. "Dovepaw will protect us, won't she?" She padded over to Bravekit and licked the still crying tom over the ears. She hesitated but meowed, "Bravekit will protect me." She had hoped that saying so would have helped Bravekit feel better but he still wailed out in grief.

Swiftfoot hushed the cats in the den and meowed, "Cloudwhisper, I know it hasn't been safe since you came to the forest but you need to keep in mind that since then TreeClan has had no choice but to struggle with the amount cats that are left. I'm sure that if you stay together in the nursery when we leave until we return you will be alright." He then flicked his tail as a signal to the cats to disperse and do what had to be done.

Rootpath dipped her head to the cats and meowed, "I'll bring Bravestar's body to the nursery so he isn't alone."

Silverkit watched as the medicine cat grabbed the dead leader's scruff gently and dragged him out silently her tail dragging behind her. She then looked up at her mother who looked down at her. "Why is she more upset than any other cat? So upset that she refuses to mourn?" she asked. She then looked at Swiftfoot who was watching them with pricked ears. "Were her and Bravestar close?" Silverkit looked back up at Cloudwhisper.

Bravekit padded over quietly. He shook from the emotional shock obviously refusing to believe that his role model was dead. He rubbed up against Silverkit and sniffled before he curled up underneath his mother for safety. As brave as the young tom usually was, something as horrible as death really seemed to frighten him.

"Why did StarClan have to take him away?" Bravekit wailed. Silverkit looked at her brother and could see the pain and anger in his eyes. It made her shudder and wish that she would never have to watch someone she loved died any time soon.

Cloudwhisper nudged her closer to her before she comforted them both by wrapping her tail around them and by rasping her rough pink tongue over their ears.

"Bravestar mentored Rootpath for a few moons before she decided she wanted to take the path of a medicine cat." Cloudwhisper whispered. "After she had become a medicine cat apprentice they got incredible close as friends and he treated her like a daughter because her father never really loved her and abandoned her as a kit." Cloudwhisper looked at Bravekit and sighed. Silverkit guessed it was hard for her to explain death to her brother.

"In order for new kits to be born some need to die." she continued. "Otherwise the forest would be overwhelmed with cats and hungry mouths to feed every leaf-bare. It would be too much death to handle all at once don't you think." Cloudwhisper looked at Silverkit and then back at Bravekit before meowing, "There is one thing I want you to understand about StarClan, the both of you. They do not plan the death of cats, nor do they control how a cat acts or feels. They simply guide us and help us to make our decisions."

Silverkit watched as Bravekit looked down at his paws and flicked his ears, showing that he was listening. He looked a little less shocked and stressed but Silverkit could tell that the emotions were still there.

He stood up and mewed, "Shouldn't we be in the nursery?" His voice gave Silverkit the impression that he disagreed with the answer his mother had given him but she just remained silent for a while.

After a few moments Silverkit didn't feel like waiting for them any longer so she pushed herself onto all four of her paws. A feeling of dizziness swept over her making her feel lost and alone as if the forest wasn't really the forest at all. She shook her fur and walked out of the den dragging her tail across the dry ground as she did so. Silverkit stopped when she heard voices nearby and realized that they were coming from behind the warriors' den.

She crept over without making a noise, carefully trying not to be seen. She stopped and hid in a tall patch of dried out grass when she spotted Dovepaw and Hawktalon talking.

"I know we can't be together but I am not going to give you up Doveflight!" Hawktalon whispered in frustration, the pale yellow tom's tail lashing back and forth. "We can run away and find a peaceful home of our own. This Clan is falling apart and for all we know it could never become as strong as it used to be. We can have family, kits of our own and relax happily in comfort somewhere without having to worry about others that aren't even our kin."

Silverkit watched as Hawktalon continued to lash his tail. He obviously had told Dovepaw how he felt and she didn't seem too happy about it.

"I kind of knew that you felt this way about me Hawktalon," Dovepaw whispered. Her eyes were filled with shock and anger. "But I pushed all the thoughts away just as you should now. A wondered a couple of times these past few moons if I should run away with you but I can't! I am the future medicine cat of TreeClan! I can't just let every cat down by leaving." She looked away from Hawktalon and meowed, "Besides, I would never run away with a tom who couldn't believe in his own Clan."

Silverkit watched Hawktalon closely with narrowed eyes. She could see the confusion and frustration building up quickly inside the tom as he sunk his claws into the ground. Silverkit watched as Hawktalon suddenly relaxed himself and moved closer to her to press his nose against her cheek.

"Please," he whispered. "I love you and I can't let you go because I thought you might have felt the same way. Can you please at least think about it?"

Dovepaw moved away with a complete look of fluster because of what Hawktalon was asking her to do. She then pricked her ears and looked towards where Silverkit watched knowing that Silverkit was there.

Silverkit went to gasp and back away but she decided that it would probably be best if she stayed quiet and didn't move. She expected Hawktalon to follow Dovepaw's gaze and find out what she was looking at but instead the tom kept his gaze on Dovepaw, his eyes begging her. Silverkit slid her tail across her own muzzle to let Dovepaw know that she wouldn't say a word and then turned away. She scurried quickly to the nursery where Bravekit and Cloudwhisper were waiting for her impatiently.

"Where were you?" Bravekit asked angrily as he trotted bravely around his sister. It seemed like he had forgotten all about Bravestar's death but Silverkit wasn't completely convinced.

"I was chasing a leaf…" Silverkit lied before she made her way over to her mother's nest quietly to get some rest, ignoring the growling of her stomach.

Silverkit's eyes remained closed as she rolled around comfortably in her mother's nest. The sun peeked through the cracks of the top of the nursery and warmed up her pelt. She had no choice but to open her eyes and blink the sleep from them when she felt a small paw poking and prodding at her side. She sat up with a yawn and meowed her voice cracking slightly, "What do you want fur ball?" She turned to face who she thought to be her brother when she realized it wasn't him.

The tom in front of her was another kit all together with a large head and thick black fur. His eyes were unusual to her because she had never seen eyes like his. They were blue and looked like they had been glazed over with ice.

"Help there is a loner trying to take over the nursery!" Silverkit yowled out in fear. Was this kit _attacking_ the Clan?

Cloudwhisper darted into the nursery breathing heavily with panic. When she saw the black kit she sighed with relief and padded over purring contently. "Silverkit, he isn't trying to take over the nursery." She sat down and licked the black kit over the ears.

"On Swift_star_'s way back he found him wandering outside the territory. Apparently he doesn't know anything about his life, not even his name. Swiftstar thinks that maybe he lost his memory somehow."

Just as she finished explaining there was a loud call from Swiftstar, "Will all cat's old enough to hunt their own prey please gather underneath the highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Silverkit padded to the entrance of the den with her brother, Cloudwhisper, and the strange new kit. She watched Swiftstar carefully and noticed that he didn't look like the cat he had been before he was leader. Now he looked braver, stronger, and even much wiser.

"Now some of you may have noticed that Rootpath, Hawktalon, and I brought a strange new kit back to camp with us. He is nothing more than a kit I assure you and we think that he has lost his memory. Treat him like you would treat Silverkit or Bravekit and teach him all you can about our Clan. Will you, little one, please come toward the highrock?" Swiftstar narrowed his eyes toward the nursery where the black kit stood with wide eyes of terror.

Silverkit nudged his shoulder and flicked her tail toward the highrock. "Go already," she whispered impatiently after a moment when the black kit didn't move a muscle. She purred in amusement when the young tom finally but nervously crawled toward Swiftstar, his belly fur dragging across the ground with every paw step he made.

Swiftstar leapt down off of the highrock and approached the black kit lifting his paws high off the ground to making himself look taller and more leader-like. He rested his muzzle on his head and meowed, "It's alright young one, no need to be afraid of me. I will be your leader from now on because you are a cat of TreeClan. From now on until you are an apprentice you shall be known as Lostkit."

Hawktalon growled and stepped up to face Swiftstar with blazing eyes filled with anger. "Why do you always make things so detailed and confusing I mean look at him! He doesn't have a clue of what to make of what you are saying!" He glanced over at the black kit and growled for a moment. "As for his name, it's doesn't suit him at all. A thick furred black tom like him should have a name like Nightkit or Heavykit _not_ Lostkit. Lostkit just seems completely inappropriate and disrespectful to any cat who has claws!"

Swiftstar glared at Hawktalon with fury and growled. "Do you question my authority as your leader?" The brown tabby and white tom lashed his long tail as he faced Hawktalon, his face literally a mouse-length away from his. "He is lost at the moment and until he remembers who he is, if he ever does, he will remain as lost. I think I made everything perfectly clear, don't you _Lostkit_?"

Silverkit watched the two toms and tilted her head questioningly. Normally they respected each other so much and looked up toward each. Silverkit wondered if it had something to do with the fact that Swiftstar wasn't just the deputy anymore but the leader and maybe their friendship had to change because of that. Silverkit wondered if maybe Hawktalon had told his friend about his feelings for Dovepaw but then she came to the realization that even if he had, Swiftstar wouldn't _hate _Hawktalon because of it. Silverkit ruffled her fur as she considered that maybe Swiftstar too loved Dovepaw but quickly laid her fur down flat when she knew that the loyal former deputy and current leader wouldn't be in love with the future medicine cat.

Lostkit seemed to break the silence with a solid, "Yes." He was still shaking in fear as he looked up at the two of them who now stared at each other with growls of anger. "Thank you." The small black kit meowed before rushing over to Silverkit shyly.

"Do they always fight like this?" He asked. "I don't feel very safe around them…"

Cloudwhisper swept her tongue over Lostkit's head and shook her own, "They don't usually. Before recently they were actually almost as close as two brothers. I guess the rank difference has their friendship falling apart since one has more power than the other…" She then padded away toward the back of the nursery leaving Bravekit, Silverkit, and Lostkit to listen to the rest of Swiftstar's announcements.

"When I got my nine lives and name StarClan told me that they would forgive me if I didn't chose a deputy tonight. They also told me that I have two moons to decide who the deputy will be." His emotion immediately flipped from calm to distress before he meowed, "That is all, you may disperse." He then padded toward his den, his tail flicking nervously.

Bravekit nudged Lostkit once Swiftstar had vanished from camp with his soft muzzle and mewed, his round brown eyes blazing with bravery the way they always had, "I bet you'll be an amazing warrior, but never as amazing as me!" The large brown tabby kit leapt forward and pinned Lostkit down quickly with very little effort while growling playfully. He then pinned his ears back against his head as Lostkit began to lose it, yowling and crying as if a badger were about to shred his pelt.

"Quiet down! He's only play fighting with you Lostkit." Silverkit meowed reassuringly to her panicking denmate once Bravekit had released him. She groomed his cheek gently before she looked up toward her brother. "Watch." She then leapt and bit down on Bravekit's left ear playfully. Bravekit shoved her away by pushing his large head forward before he rolled her onto her belly and pinning her down. His paws were placed on her shoulders and he let out a victorious yowl.

Lostkit seemed to understand by then but not fully. Silverkit watched as the young tom unsheathed his claws and yowled as he bit Bravekit's scruff and yanked him back before clawing his flank. Bravekit yowled in pain and spun around to claw Lostkit across the face.

Silverkit looked at the two in shock before she cannoned herself at her brother before he could hurt Lostkit and shoved him, causing them both to tumble across the den floor.

She jumped up quickly to look at Lostkit. She breathed heavily and shook moss from her pelt. "When we play fight or train which is what we will do when we become apprentices, we keep our claws sheathed!" She looked at her brother's flank and growled. "Now my brother is hurt and needs to see a medicine cat because apparently you can't even remember where your paws have been!"

Lostkit pinned his ears against his head and widened his ice blue eyes. Silverkit could see the adrenaline rushing through them as if they were a river. "I did not mean any harm… I just thought," Lostkit began before Bravekit interrupted him, "Now I know for certain that I will be a better warrior than you!"

Cloudwhisper rushed over worry filling her gentle brown eyes. "Bravekit, what happened? You're bleeding!" She leapt over to her son and began cleaning the blood from his flank as if he was dying.

Bravekit nudged away from his mother and meowed, "Lostkit attacked me when Silverkit and I were playing! Now I have to go see a medicine cat…" He then disappeared through the bracken that hid the entrance of the nursery. Cloudwhisper followed quickly after him.

Silverkit for a second wanted to tell her mother that Bravekit wasn't completely telling the truth but instead narrowed her brown eyes at Lostkit in confusion. She noticed that he didn't really evenseem to be scared or sorry about what he had done. Instead he puffed out his chest like he had won a battle and looked around for approval. She padded up to him and gave him in a 'why?' kind of look but he only returned it. Silverkit wanted to say something to him about how he looked like he was trying to prove something to her but instead she thought that maybe she was seeing things. Maybe Lostkit was just being like Bravekit, a complete showoff.

She padded over to her mother's nest and kneaded the moss around with her forepaws before she curled up in the most comfortable position she could, on her side with her tail curled in toward her belly. She stared up at the nursery ceiling and even though it was still light out she was exhausted from the events that had happened in the short period of time. She began to wonder what it would be like to be an apprentice working ten times as hard, wishing to go to sleep at the end of each training session.


	4. Chapter 3

Silverkit woke up in the nursery just like she always had but this time instead of laying around letting herself wake up for a while she jumped right up and started nudging Bravekit who was deeply sleeping as usual. She bit the tip of his tail knowing it wouldn't really hurt him but would still wake him up. She purred when her brother glanced at her annoyed and stood up on his own four paws. She noticed his eyes suddenly fill with excitement and she let out a loud excited yowl before she ran around in circles playfully with her brother.

Cloudwhisper opened one of her eyes and watched them run around excitedly as they murmured teasing things to each other about who was going to be the fastest or the strongest, or the greatest hunter. She sat up and meowed through a yawn, "You kits are up earlier than usual. You must be really excited."

Bravekit nodded and ran around in circles as he expressed his emotions, "I can't wait to go over to the highrock and be looked down on by Swiftstar as an apprentice now that I am six moons!" He shut his muzzle for just a moment as he narrowed his eyes toward his mother's flicking tail. He sprung forward catching it under his front paws.

"Will you stop playing with my tail?" Cloudwhisper growled softly before she called for Lostkit. The young black tom padded toward them from the shadow covered side of the den looking completely exhausted.

Bravekit growled as soon as he spotted Lostkit's icy blue eyes. "Show some excitement! You should feel privileged to be a part of our Clan after attacking _me_!" he snapped before he turned away with a huff. Silverkit watched as he padded toward the entrance of the nursery and understood that he was clearly trying to avoid Lostkit.

Cloudwhisper stood up and spoke strictly to Bravekit, "Stop ordering Lostkit around like you are the leader when you are barely even an apprentice." She looked away almost looking as if she was disappointed with her son's attitude and who he was growing to be.

"Stop speaking as if StarClan revolves around you," she murmured.

Silverkit looked at her mother and saw that tears had welled up in her eyes. She sighed. She didn't completely understand why Bravekit acted the way he did but she was sure it had something to do with the fact that they were both strong young toms capable of being great, strong warriors. Maybe her brother was feeling threatened by the fact that Lostkit could end up being the better warrior.

She trotted over to Bravekit and examined his side quietly. She noticed that the scratches given to him by Lostkit more than half a moon ago seemed to have completely disappeared as if they had never existed. Silverkit licked his shoulder gently before she sat down and wrapped her tail neatly around her paws just like her mother. "Bravekit, why do you hate Lostkit?" She asked curiously.

Bravekit flashed a glare at Silverkit before he stared wonderingly into the clearing of camp quietly. Silverkit kept her gaze on him until he eventually answered, "I don't hate him… I just don't think he deserves to be in our Clan."

She opened her mouth to reply but instead she just shook her head and crawled through the brambles of the nursery entrance. Just as she could see the bright sky with only a few clouds travelling across it there was a loud yowl coming from Swiftstar by the highrock. She hoped he was calling a Clan meeting for their apprenticeship ceremony.

Bravekit, Cloudwhisper, and Lostkit came out of the nursery after her and they walked over to the highrock. Silverkit looked up at her mother and meowed with nervousness in her eyes, "Do you think I will make a good apprentice?" but before her mother could answer, Swiftstar began.

"We have some good news today." Swiftstar announced as he looked down at the seven cats of the Clan that had gathered in front of him. "Today Silverkit, Bravekit, and our newcomer Lostkit become apprentices. Will Bravekit step forward?"

Silverkit watched as Bravekit brushed up against their mother excitedly before he bounced forward, puffing out his chest to look bigger and stronger even though he was already a lot bigger than her and Lostkit. For a heartbeat the brown tabby tom lost his balance and stumbled, but just as quick as he had lost his balance he found it again.

Swiftstar cleared his throat and meowed, "Bravekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Bravepaw. I will mentor you and I know I can pass down all I know to you." He leapt down off of the highrock and touched his nose to Bravepaw's. The young brown tabby tom shook nervously.

"Will Lostkit now please step forward?"

Lostkit looked at Silverkit and then at Cloudwhisper before he approached Swiftstar, his tail tucked tightly between his legs showing he was extremely frightened.

"Lostkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. So from this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Lostpaw. I shall mentor you along with Bravepaw and I will do my best to past down all I know to the both of you equally." Swiftstar leapt down from the highrock which he had climbed back up a few seconds after making Bravepaw an apprentice before touching his nose to the shaking Lostpaw's, who flinched.

Swiftstar stayed off of the highrock probably not wanting to have to climb back up only to jump back down again. "Silverkit please come forward so I can make you an apprentice as well."

Silverkit nodded her head to Cloudwhisper, Lostpaw, and Bravepaw before she did as she was asked. She looked up at Swiftstar with a gentle and content purr.

"Our beautiful Silverkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on until you receive your warrior name and become the warrior you wish to be you shall be known as Silverpaw. Your mentor will be Hawktalon. Already you have shown yourself to be intelligent and a fast learner and I hope Hawktalon will look past any grudges he may have and train you well. I truly hope he can pass down all he knows on to you and that he can make you a great warrior." As Swiftstar spoke the traditional words, hatred and worry burned in his voice. Silverpaw grew worried and wondered if he regretted giving her to Hawktalon as an apprentice.

"Hawktalon, I hope you are ready to take on an apprentice. You received good training from your former mentor, and you have shown yourself to be determined and open-minded. You will be the mentor of Silverpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."

Silverpaw moved closer to Hawktalon who had slipped away from sitting beside Dovepaw to come toward her with bright glowing eyes. Her journey as a warrior began now and she would have to prove to her leader that Hawktalon was a loyal warrior no matter who the leader way be and that he would be a great mentor. She also had to prove that she as well was a loyal and great cat who was capable of being a great warrior just like any other. She touched her nose quietly to Hawktalon's, the coldness of it causing a shiver to crawl down her spine.

Swiftstar flicked his ears and meowed, "Now before you all start screeching out their new names I have just a couple more things to be made clear." He glanced over at Cloudwhisper and meowed, "Cloudwhisper now that you're kits are apprentices you will be a warrior and will have to stick around me or Hawktalon to learn the fighting and hunting techniques with your daughter or your son, all while doing the regular duties of a warrior as well. You have a day of rest before you start but that is all the time you will get." His gaze seemed to go from calm to distressful within heartbeats as he changed subjects. "I'm sure you all remember when I came back from getting my nine lives and name I told you I would have two months to choose the deputy. I have decided that I will do so next moon before the gathering." He then flicked his tail telling the cats to disperse before he called Lostpaw and Bravepaw's names.

The small Clan then began cheering the new apprentices' names not even bothering to question anything Swiftstar had said.

Silverpaw purred as Dovepaw and Rootpath walked toward her to congratulate her. She then led her mother over to where Hawktalon was waiting by the camp entrance.

"We will go to the training clearing right away and please try to follow quickly." Hawktalon meowed. Silverpaw noticed him look over toward Swiftstar's den and noticed that he looked anxious. He probably wanted to get as far away from Swiftstar as he possibly could since he had been practically humiliated by him. She said nothing and just followed Hawktalon swiftly through the territory toward a clearing with sunshine beaming down on it. Flowers grew there and as they moved into the center of it, animals scurried for shelter.

"Before I give you two a tour of the territory I have to make sure that in case some cats from another Clan come and try to attack us that you can protect yourselves and fight them off. I am going to teach you a few fighting techniques." He crouched down, facing his back to them calmly. "Cloudwhisper try and attack me with _sheathed_ claws."

Silverpaw looked at her mother and watched silently as she leapt at Hawktalon trying to pin him down. She then watched Hawktalon as he quickly ducked, rolled away, and sprung onto his four paws behind Cloudwhisper. He then leapt and pinned Cloudwhisper on her back before he raked his sheathed paws over her belly with a lot of force. He then jumped back. "Try again," he ordered.

Silverpaw looked over at her mother with pricked ears. The light silver furred she-cat took a deep breath as she stood up. She then darted toward Hawktalon before she leapt and pinned him down, pushing down on his shoulders as hard as she could. He struggled for a moment but eventually pushed himself upward and shoved her off before he brought his paw down on her head with sheathed claws, the force so great Silverpaw actually heard a smacking noise.

Cloudwhisper yowled and lost balance before she fell over onto her side with a growl. "I don't understand!"

Silverpaw rushed over to her mother and asked her, concerned, "Are you okay?!" She then turned to Hawktalon, anger driving her to do what she was about to do. _My turn…_ She leapt at Hawktalon when he wasn't looking, clung to his sides, and let her weight force him down so he was pinned on his belly. She grabbed his neck fur and leaned to the side so she could roll him over and pin him again but this time on his back. She raised her forepaw to claw at his face angrily with a hiss.

Hawktalon let out a small and quiet yowl before he shoved Silverpaw off of him and leapt towards her to pin her. Silverpaw ducked, rolled, and leapt onto her paws just as Hawktalon had and made him confused. She then raced forward and went to slam her forepaw down hard on his head but was stopped by her mother who leapt in front of her. She looked at her mother, confused at why she had stopped her. "Huh?"

Cloudwhisper panted heavily and meowed, "I know," She took a moment to catch her breath. "I know that when you saw me on the ground you were angry. Don't hurt him out of anger, please. Don't be like Bravepaw."

Silverpaw nodded and understood the point that her mother was trying to make. "I didn't know I was going to hurt him," she confessed before she turned to Hawktalon who was still clearly in shock.

"It's alright Silverpaw," he began. "I know you were just doing your best to protect your mother, and I'm proud of you." Hawktalon caught his breath as well before he continued. "You just showed me that you will be able to protect your Clan as a warrior." He stood up on his paws and began grooming the dirt and dust from his pelt. "I want you two to fight using the techniques I just taught you."

Silverpaw looked at Cloudwhisper with uncertainty and uneasiness. Silverpaw was scared that she might hurt her mother. "I don't know if I can," she confessed nervously wondering if her mentor would be upset or disappointed with her, but to her surprise he wasn't.

"I know it's hard to even imagine fighting Cloudwhisper." Hawktalon began. "You are new to this and you don't want to hurt her but you know what?" The pale yellow tom looked out over the training clearing. "I've seen many cats fight the ones they love and one day you may too have to face a cat in battle that you really care about. It'll be the only way to stay loyal to your Clan."

Cloudwhisper licked Silverpaw over the ears and meowed, "It'll be okay." She then stepped back and meowed, "Ready?"

Silverpaw took a deep breath and glanced at Hawktalon, noticing a look of grief and pain in his eyes. Had he had to fight a cat he knew for the sake of his loyalty? She shook the thoughts from her head and narrowed her eyes at her mother with a slight nod. When her mother leapt towards her she ducked, rolled, and leapt to her paws just as her mentor had once again. She spun around and got ready to fight but yowled in surprise when she was pinned down, her mother's paws rubbing against her belly in a raking motion.

"Kick up hard with your hind paws to knock the breath out of your opponent and then shove her off!"

Silverpaw listened carefully to Hawktalon's instructions before she kicked upwards with all the might she could gather just as he had told her to. She felt her mother's grip loosen, pushed herself upward, and managed to shove her mother off of her. She leapt to her paws and panted for a moment before she pounced at Cloudwhisper and tapped her front paw gently down on her head to represent the move she had been taught, just hard enough to make Cloudwhisper dizzy but not do any damage.

"You can stop!" Hawktalon meowed loudly as he walked toward them with bright and proud eyes. "You both did well and I think you understand enough to be able to protect yourselves if anything happens."

Silverpaw then followed them out of the training clearing as they left and down a steep hill to the thunderpath. The hot sun bounced off the dark surface, making the air extremely warm around them once they arrived by the thunderpath. The forest seemed silent.

Silverpaw watched her mother as she took a few paw steps onto the dark hot surface. She pricked her ears cautiously when she heard a loud roaring sound before she turned her head to see a large monster that reeked a horrible smell barreling noisily down the thunderpath toward her mother.

"Cloudwhisper!" Hawktalon snarled angrily. Silverpaw watched as the young warrior darted over to the thunderpath and over to Cloudwhisper from the bottom of the hill he had gone down. The light silver she-cat yowled in fear and narrowed her eyes at the monster before she turned and made her way across the rest of thunderpath, just barely escaping the monster and her death.

Silverpaw watched her mother as she ran straight into what Silverpaw knew to be another Clan's territory.

"Stay here, I have to find her before DarkClan does." Hawktalon yowled to her from the other side of the thunderpath. He then turned and vanished into the other Clan's territory after her mother.

Silverpaw remembered when she had been a young kit. She had been told by Dovepaw how evil and cruel DarkClan could be and how they would do anything to either keep their territory and camp safe or expand their hunting grounds and territory. She shuffled her paws nervously before she forced herself to lie down. She looked up at the sky and thought about her mother's dream which every cat seemed to have forgotten about. What did it mean and who had the crying cat been?

Silverpaw's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a mixture of loud yowls from deeper inside DarkClan territory. She leapt to her paws and raced across the thunderpath, wincing in pain as the hot black surface burnt the pads of her paws. She kept running into the territory, completely blocking out the pain. The ground turned muddy and oak trees into thick pine ones that raked her sides as she rushed to find her mother and mentor in the strange territory.

When Silverpaw had finally found them she halted to a stop and looked around, her heart racing in fear. She guessed that they were pretty close to DarkClan camp considering there was a strange and strong scent of other cats that were definitely not from her Clan. As she looked around once more she noticed that Cloudwhisper was pinned down by a red and white tabby she-cat and was kicking upwards to try and get loose while Hawktalon was batting and hissing at a dark grey almost black tom and a smaller black and white tom who looked to be an apprentice.

Silverpaw hurled herself towards the apprentice who looked like he was about to pounce at Hawktalon with a loud snarl. She pinned him down on his back and began to rake at his belly with unsheathed claws. She growled and leapt back when the other apprentice kicked upwards into her stomach and knocked the air out of her, making her lose her grip. The black and white tom raked his claws along her flank.

She winced in pain and remembered when Lostpaw had clawed her brother the same way. She wondered if he had felt the same and then realized as she looked at the apprentice in front of her that he and Lostpaw looked a lot alike. They both had the same thick black fur, solid heads, and icy cold blue eyes. The only difference was that the tom in front of her had a white chest and paws.

"Well aren't you going to fight back, _kittypet_?" The tom spat.

Silverpaw looked at him confused before she looked back at her mother who was now standing over the red and white tabby she-cat. She glanced over at Hawktalon and the dark grey tom who were rolling around clawing and spitting at each other in a ball of fury, fur spread out on the ground around them. She turned back to the apprentice, curiosity now clawing at her. "Do you have a brother?" She watched as the tom's gaze glanced away from her over to only StarClan knew what.

"I did." The apprentice muttered, his voice cracking with grief. "But when DarkClan found us we got separated." The tom turned his back to her and whispered, "Come with me," He then led her back to the thunderpath, Silverpaw following willingly.

Although Silverpaw was curious about what the young tom had to say, she remained cautious. She knew that the tom could just be separating her from her Clanmates to attack her and take her life.

"My name is Coldpaw, and I know that you know my brother. He's a part of your Clan, isn't he?" The black tom looked at her with worry and concern. He stepped forward and sniffed her chest fur quietly.

Silverpaw backed away awkwardly and meowed, "My leader found him wandering around outside our territory." She didn't dare to mention Bravestar's name or death. "We think he might've been attacked and hit his head off a rock or something because he doesn't remember where he came from." She remembered how he had mentioned that he and his brother had gotten separated. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get separated?"

Coldpaw shuffled his paws and looked around to make sure no cat was around to listen. "A few moons ago my leader Redstar and the deputy which you saw attacking your silver furred Clanmate back there whose name is Coyotepelt were heading into the land where no territories were. They were searching for new cats because I guess you could say they were desperate for cats."

Silverpaw watched as he stopped to breathe unsteadily for a moment as if the memories were making him uncomfortable.

"My brother and I were found as loners along with my mother. They attacked her and forced her to come home with them. I wanted to stay with my mother of course so I followed them as they dragged my mother away. My brother though, he tried to fight." Coldpaw sunk his claws into the ground and closed his eyes, his fur prickling with fear. "And with one swipe of his paw my leader sent him to the ground and he fell unconscious. My mother and I have always mourned his death, until now."

Silverpaw looked Coldpaw in the eyes once he had open them again. A shiver went through her body because he had the same icy cold blue ones as Lostpaw and it was like looking right at him. She shook out her pelt and looked at her paws before she whispered, "I'm really sorry…" She realized that even though the tom had been attacking her they were now talking to each other like they had known each other since birth. "You're not like the rest of DarkClan are you?" she asked.

Coldpaw's black and white pelt sparkled in the sunshine as he shook his head. "No, but I will forever be loyal to them." He shuffled his forepaws awkwardly as he apologized to her, "I'm sorry for attacking you, but we should return to the fight before they question where our loyalties lie. Chase me back and I'll return to camp. Hopefully we will see each other in the next couple of gatherings, along with my brother."

Silverpaw nodded before they both began to run back to where their Clanmates were fighting, Silverpaw acting as if she was chasing Coldpaw having successfully won a fight.

When they reached where their Clanmates were still fighting, Silverpaw stopped and watched as Coldpaw kept running until he had completely vanished from sight. She panted and looked around noticing that there was an extra cat, a dark red almost brown tom who she guessed to be Redstar. He had multiple scars along his flank and on the base of his tail.

"Why have you come into _my_ territory and started fighting with _my_ Clan." Redstar had meowed angrily as he narrowed his eyes at Silverpaw noticing she had chased off the apprentice from his Clan. "I will not only have your tails, but Bravestar's too!"

Hawktalon glanced over at Cloudwhisper and Silverpaw and looked relieved when no cat said a thing about Bravestar's death.

"You won't have any of our tails Redstar." Cloudwhisper argued as she arched her back.

Silverpaw looked over at her mother in panic, hoping the DarkClan leader wouldn't spring and attack her. She sighed, relieved, when Hawktalon walked in front of her mother and interrupted her. "Cloudwhisper here just got spooked on the thunderpath and ran in the wrong direction. We weren't trying to cause any harm but it seems your cats attacked us." Hawktalon glanced towards the dark grey tom who he had been fighting. The tom had many deep scratches along his side and a large gash on his nose.

Silverkit swiveled her gaze over to the DarkClan leader and pricked her ears to listen. "Why was she even setting a paw on the thunderpath? Doesn't Bravestar discipline his Clan?" Redstar gave an evil like glare to Hawktalon and meowed, "Oh right, he wouldn't. His Clan is made up of kittypets!"

Redstar and his two Clanmates snickered before he continued, "Besides, it's the land that separates DarkClan and TreeClan so the only reason a cat would ever set paw on it would be to get to the other territory. You can throw a dozen excuses at my paws Hawktalon but I will believe not one."

Silverpaw could tell Hawktalon was beginning to grow frustrated because he sunk his claws into the muddy ground. She growled and padded over to him to defend her mentor. "I just became an apprentice and my mother has never really known the territory since she's always been in camp. Hawktalon was showing us the territory and my mother got curious. That isn't a crime!" She purred softly before she hissed, "Of course you wouldn't know considering your life _is _a crime."

Redstar crept towards her, anger blazing in his eyes. The tom's dark red coat was fluffed up in annoyance and his back was slowly arching as if he was ready to hurl herself towards him. He stood over her and looked to Cloudwhisper with an evil smirk. "So you are the kittypet who failed to warn the forest and then had your kittypet kits in TreeClan?" He turned his head to face Hawktalon who was growling in frustration.

"Why don't you just let us go? Keeping us here is only wasting your time." Hawktalon shouted angrily as he padded past Redstar and pushed against him threateningly. He moved closer to Silverpaw and pressed against her in warning.

Silverpaw had a few claw marks on her flank and her mother who had moved toward her as Redstar had, had scratches on her forehead. The blood was drying on her fur but still trickled down over her right eye.

"Let's just go." Silverpaw hissed, not wanting to have to put up with DarkClan any longer.

Redstar growled and stood in front of Hawktalon. He hissed angrily into his ear, Silverpaw just barely hearing, "This _will_ be discussed at the gathering." He faced his Clanmates and gave them an order. "Coyotepelt and Ashclaw I want you to make sure that these fools leave our territory." The DarkClan leader then vanished between the pine trees silently as he left to return to camp.

The five cats walked towards the thunderpath. Coyotepelt took the lead while Ashclaw brought up the back. The walk to the border seemed to take forever as no cat made a noise. One time Silverpaw had asked her mother if she was alright to walk on her own and Coyotepelt and Ashclaw had growled threateningly at her.

When they finally reached the thunderpath after a long and silent walk, Cloudwhisper, Hawktalon, and Silverpaw cautiously crossed it and toured the rest of the territory, careful not to go into another Clan's territory. The sky was just beginning to turn to a beautiful blood orange colour when Hawktalon had finished walking Cloudwhisper and Silverpaw around the territory.

"Why don't we try some hunting on the way back to camp?" He suggested as he lifted his head and scented the warm and humid air. "You know the hunter's crouch don't you?" He then bent his legs so that his belly fur brushed silently against the ground, his tail out at a height so it wouldn't drag on the ground or hit leaves above him. He lowered his head and turned it so he looked at Silverpaw and Cloudwhisper. "Just do this and be very silent. I'll let you know if you're doing something wrong."

Silverpaw nodded and padded slowly away from them. She lifted her head, opened her mouth, and breathed in the sweet smelling air. She could scent a finch and a mouse and followed the scent the best she could until she spotted the mouse sniffing around looking for something to eat.

She crouched down just as Hawktalon had and crawled toward it before she pounced. The small grey creature lifted its head and looked at her in surprise. She caught it in her paws but it struggled out from under her and began darting for a bush. She leapt after it and landed in the bushes causing a loud crackling noise as she crushed the branches. Silverpaw crawled out of the bush with a moan before shaking the leaves from her pelt.

Hawktalon padded over to her and rasped his tongue over her to clear the dirt and twigs from her pelt. He let out an _mrrow _of amusement and meowed, "You know, when hunting mice you have to balance your weight and be extremely quiet. It probably used the ground to its advantage to feel you coming. That and you waited too long to pounce."

Silverpaw licked Hawktalon's shoulder in thanks before she nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed. She shook her pelt a final time before she scented the air again, still scenting the finch. She followed the scent silently, crouched down in the hunter's crouch, until spotted the finch as it picked at the ground with its beak. She purred quietly with excitement and got close enough so she could pounce forward. When she did the finch flew up into the air silently but it couldn't escape Silverpaw's claws as she leapt up and sunk them into its wing, and brought it down. For a heartbeat the finch began to screech and flap its wings around in a panic but she silenced it with a swift bite to the neck.

Once Silverpaw was sure that the finch was killed she purred proudly. "My first kill!" Silverpaw cheered victoriously as she kicked dirt over it to hide it from any predators that might want to steal her kill.

Hawktalon padded over with a rabbit in his jaws. His eyes sparkling proudly as if he had been watching Silverpaw and every move she had made. He nodded and murmured through the rabbit's scruff. "I saw everything, and you were amazing." He looked back at Cloudwhisper and purred with amusement as the she-cat approached with a mouse hanging from her jaws as she held it by the tail. "For a moment, I almost thought you were a bird!"

"I caught my first kill." Silverpaw meowed to Cloudwhisper as she flicked her tail towards the finch beside her that was buried in loose soil. "Did you catch that mouse?"

Cloudwhisper gently placed the mouse in front of her and rolled her eyes before meowing sarcastically, "No, the fox did." She then bent down and picked her mouse up again. "I'm exhausted. Can we go back to camp now please?" she murmured.

Silverpaw looked at Hawktalon and purred when he nodded. Her paws were really starting to ache and her stomach was growling loudly. She dipped her head respectfully and turned to face Cloudwhisper. The sky was turning a purplish orange and soon the sun would set. Already the breeze of night was sweeping over the forest like it did every green-leaf night.

Once they returned to camp, very satisfied with their day, they all headed towards the fresh-kill pile and dropped off their kill. Cloudwhisper headed towards the warriors' den while Hawktalon headed off towards Swiftstar to report their outing.

Silverpaw looked around and noticed Lostpaw eating a robin all by himself. She padded over with kind eyes and meowed, "How did your day with Bravepaw and Swiftstar go?" She plopped down on her side beside him with a yawn, their soft pelts brushing together making her feel warm and safe like she was back in the nursery with her mother again.

Lostpaw looked Silverpaw in the eyes once he had looked up from his fresh-kill and flicked his ears uneasily. "Well we just did the basics I guess. It was actually kind of fun once I started to ignore Bravepaw's smart remarks."

Silverpaw purred with amusement and curled her tail around her so she could run her soft pink tongue over it a few times. She then shuffled away from him a little bit and looked at her side where her wounds were healing slowly healing. "Cloudwhisper ran over the thunderpath into DarkClan territory and we ended up having a little corral with the deputy, a warrior, and an apprentice. The other apprentice, his name is Coldpaw."

Lostpaw's eyes clouded over with concern and narrowed his gaze at her scratches. He touched his muzzle to her side and meowed, "Does it hurt? Are you okay? Did Coldpaw hurt you?" He rasped his tongue over the scratches a couple of times worriedly.

Silverpaw twisted her head around to look Lostpaw in the eyes, their muzzles only a mouse length away from each other as she tried to reassure him. "It doesn't hurt really. It happened a lot earlier and should heal without the next few days. I fought off that apprentice like an angry badger." She didn't want to mention so soon Coldpaw and his kinship with Lostpaw.

"Don't greet your brother or anything after not seeing him since our apprenticeship ceremony." Bravepaw meowed as he walked over, clearly upset with the fact that his sister was close with a tom he didn't trust. He looked away with an annoyed look to his face. "I brought you the mouse I caught to eat…"

Silverpaw purred gently and looked up at her brother. "I'm sorry it's just that we aren't kits in the nursery anymore and we kind of have to be two different cats now. But I will always love you Bravepaw, you're my brother. You know that right?" She narrowed her eyes at the mouse he had caught earlier and dipped her head thankfully. Her stomach angrily at her, demanding food. "Do you want to share?" she asked.

Bravepaw said nothing and just lied on the other side of Silverpaw, placing the mouse in front of her.

Silverpaw licked her brother's cheek not caring how he thought or felt before she waited patiently for him to the take the first bite. Once Bravepaw bent his head down and sunk his teeth into the some-what fresh mouse tearing it apart Silverpaw did the same, the tastes flooding her mouth and making her drool. She took a couple more bites before she nudged it a final time towards Bravepaw, her hungry stomach satisfied.

Silverpaw looked at Lostpaw who was awkwardly looking down at his half eaten robin. She tilted her head and meowed, "Are you going to eat that robin or are you going to keep trying to read its mind?"

Lostpaw looked at Silverpaw with sparkling eyes and a soft purr. "You can have it," he said. "If you want." He nudged it slowly towards her, not taking his eyes off of her.

Silverpaw thanked Lostpaw kindly before she polished off the rest of the robin, purring happily. She seemed to like the taste of the bird more than the mouse even though they both filled her. She then looked at Bravepaw and meowed, "Thank you by the way." She purred when she saw her brother had finished off the mouse. "I'm going to go see Dovepaw and Rootpath to make sure my scratches aren't infected or anything." She then got up and padded across the clearing and into the medicine cat den.

"Silverpaw, is that you? Is everything okay?" Dovepaw meowed as she padded towards her with pricked ears. She right away must have noticed the scratches because she worriedly started to meow, "Let me take a look at those scratches…" She came towards her and used one of her forepaws to examine the scratches gently. "They are healing nicely and have no infection."

Silverpaw looked at Dovepaw's grey flecked brown fur that looked messy and noticed that her eyes seemed to have lost their glow. "I'm fine, but are you?" She waited for an answer but the she-cat remained silent staring at Silverpaw's scratches. "I need to talk to you _alone_." Silverpaw told Dovepaw, growing more worried for her friend as she remained silent.

Dovepaw sighed and stepped back. She meowed, "Rootpath is out looking for any herbs that might be useful in the future. We are alone." She sat down and looked at her paws. Silverpaw knew something was troubling her. "What do you need to talk to me about?"

Silverpaw stretched and sat down before she wrapped her tail neatly her paws. "Well, earlier today my mother crossed over DarkClan's border and we ran into some cats. I met this apprentice and his name was Coldpaw."

Dovepaw silenced her by running her tail over her muzzle. "He's from a different Clan. You aren't going to be breaking the warrior code to see him right?"

Silverpaw looked at Dovepaw amazed that of all cats she would be talking to her about breaking the code. "I'm not finished!" She growled in frustration. "He looked exactly like Lostpaw except there was some white fur on him. He's Lostpaw's brother."

Dovepaw pinned her ears against her head, probably embarrassed that she had accused Silverpaw of even thinking of breaking the warrior code. The medicine cat apprentice looked around the den and seemed to think silently for a moment before finally saying something. "Does Coldpaw know why Lostpaw doesn't remember a thing?"

Silverpaw shrugged her shoulders and meowed, "A few moons ago Redstar and Coyotepelt were exploring land that wasn't claimed and separated them and their mother because Lostpaw refused to be a part of DarkClan."

Dovepaw gave Silverpaw a questioning look before she lied down and crossed one of her forepaws over the other calmly. "Why are you telling me this Silverpaw?"

Silverpaw looked down at her paws and then up at Dovepaw again. "I was wondering if I should tell Lostpaw about his brother and past but…" She sighed as Dovepaw gave her a certain stare that meant she wanted her to go on. "I'm scared that he'll want to be with his family and go to DarkClan. He's my friend and I don't want him to leave." She looked away and sighed knowing that Dovepaw would probably say that if he was her friend that she should let him leave TreeClan and go to DarkClan to be with his kin.

Dovepaw sighed and looked down at her paws. "Sometimes it is hard to let go of something or some cat you care about Silverpaw. Trust me, I know."

Silverpaw could tell immediately that Dovepaw was talking about Hawktalon. She changed the discussion to Dovepaw's problem knowing it was probably bothering a lot by now. "What are you going to do? He asked you to leave, but you don't want to do you?" She nuzzled her friend's shoulder and meowed, "If you really love him it wouldn't be such a terrible thing would it? Rootpath still has a lot of life left in her and she could always find a new apprentice."

Dovepaw stood up, anger flashing in her deep brown eyes. "I care about him but I can't be his mate because it's forbidden and I am loyal to my Clan." Dovepaw's claws sunk into the ground as she defended herself. "I can't believe a kittypet of all cats would question _my_ loyalty!"

Silverpaw suddenly felt weak and couldn't speak. Tears filled her eyes and a lump formed in her throat causing her to choke on her words. She couldn't believe that Dovepaw would use something like that against her. She thought that Dovepaw accepted her blood and knew that she was now and forever would be loyal TreeClan warrior regardless of her roots. "You're just like every other cat!" She yowled angrily. "Doubting me because my mother was a kittypet and my father probably still is!" She backed away to turn and run, sadness piercing her heart.

Dovepaw moved closer to Silverpaw with apologetic eyes and meowed, "Silverpaw, I didn't mean…" The she-cat stopped herself. Silverpaw turned around and watched her stare down at her paws. "I'm just really lost and confused. I feel like a terrible medicine cat because I shouldn't be and sometimes I think that maybe Rootpath hasn't decided I am ready to be a full medicine cat because I am not sure of myself. It hurts so much Silverpaw." She approached and touched her nose to Silverpaw's shoulder gently. "Please, I would never doubt you."

Silverpaw narrowed her eyes at Dovepaw and meowed, "Rootpath knows about you and Hawktalon?" She watched as Dovepaw nodded and sighed. "I won't stop believing that you doubt me until you prove to me that you don't and that you believe in me… But I can't stay mad at you." She sat down and wrapped her paws neatly around her paws once again. "Also you might want to tell Hawktalon to back off if you _really_ want to prove to Rootpath that you are a loyal medicine cat."

Dovepaw nodded and opened her mouth to reply but closed it quickly when Rootpath entered the den, her mouth full of green plants Silverpaw couldn't recognize right away. She dipped her head goodbye to Dovepaw before she slipped out of the den into the clearing, dipping her head respectfully to Rootpath as she did so.

"Silverpaw, Cloudwhisper, and Hawktalon I need to talk to you." Swiftstar spoke loudly through the clearing, his voice projecting how confident and leader-like he truly was.

Silverpaw padded quickly over to him and Cloudwhisper and Hawktalon met up with them within a few the same few heartbeats. The sun had almost set and the sky was starting to turn a dark blue. The first stars of silverpelt were beginning to show.

Swiftstar narrowed his eyes at each of them individually for a moment. He then sighed and Silverpaw could tell he was disappointed. "Cloudwhisper how could you be so foolish? Now DarkClan thinks we are weak. He will want more territory now that he has a bigger and stronger Clan!" Swiftstar's eyes then began to gleam with pride as he meowed, "Hawktalon I would like to thank you for teaching them some defense and fighting techniques before taking them around the territory though. At least we won't seem as weak as we would have if you had not done so and you had nearly gotten killed by DarkClan cats."

Silverpaw looked at him and nervously shuffled her paws silently. She didn't understand why she was there if all that was going on was Swiftstar scolding her mother and praising her mentor. She lifted her head and gazed up at Swiftstar who had narrowed his eyes at her.

"Silverpaw, Hawktalon told me you caught your first kill earlier. A finch is a hard first kill. It took me about a moon to catch anything with wings." Swiftstar chuckled, for probably the first time in moons, and flicked his tail to end the conversation. He then disappeared into his den.

Silverpaw purred proudly before she padded off towards the apprentices' den. She made herself a nice place to sleep and laid herself down in it, rolling onto her side and bringing her tail along her stomach like she always had. It felt cold and empty in the den because no cats had been in it for moons and Bravepaw and Lostpaw hadn't come in yet. Silverpaw though, despite how lonely and cold she was, drifted off into a deep sleep due to the exhausting day she had had.


	5. Chapter 4

She woke up the next day when sunlight peeked through the den walls and shined over her eyelids causing her great discomfort. She sat up with a yawn and blinked the sleep from her eyes before she trotted out of the apprentice's den. She gasped when she noticed that no cats were in camp except Rootpath and Dovepaw who were relaxing by the fresh-kill pile.

"Hello Silverpaw, you slept in and every other cat except us and Swiftstar who is in his den left for a hunting or border patrol." Dovepaw meowed with pricked ears.

Silverpaw looked up at the sun with squinted eyes and realized the sun was far from rising in fact it was nearly sunhigh. She began to panic knowing that sleeping in like she had would not be tolerated. "Is Swiftstar angry?" She asked. "This is my second day of being an apprentice. I slept in when I should be out hunting and patrolling like the rest of them!"

Dovepaw shook her head with kind eyes and replied, "He isn't angry or at least not anymore. When we talked to him he didn't seem happy but he understood why you would've slept in. Fighting a DarkClan patrol would tucker any new apprentice out. Just try not to let it happen again." She looked down at the mouse she had half eaten and meowed, "Would you like the rest of this? I don't really have the wanting for mice at the moment for some reason."

Silverpaw nodded with a gentle purr before she lied down beside her friend and ate the rest of the mouse, licking and smacking her jaws as she did so. When she had finished she used her tail to swipe dirt over the remains. She and Dovepaw then began to share tongues, the traditional thing to do after sharing a piece of kill. They gossiped and talking about the little corral with DarkClan that had happened the day before, purring with amusement as they joked about the DarkClan leader and how he had been so full of himself.

Rootpath looked at them with pricked ears to probably hear what they were saying better because she was deaf in one ear before she meowed, "Dovepaw, after the gathering you know as usual we will be going to the moontree right?"

"Yes Rootpath."

Rootpath looked up at the bright sunhigh sky before meowing, "Just making sure." Her eyes seemed to be full of worry as she continued to stare up at the sky.

Silverpaw waited until Rootpath relaxed her ears knowing she wouldn't be able to hear her when she did. She then leaned over and whispered into Dovepaw's ear, "Is that supposed to mean something?" Dovepaw looked back at her with a confused shrug before she stood up and said, "Rootpath, is there anything I have to do right now?"

Rootpath pricked her ears and meowed, "No, not right now. I'll call you if I have something for you to do."

Silverpaw stood up and looked at Dovepaw who seemed worried and confused now too. She wondered if the she-cat was worried that her mentor didn't think she knew anything about being a medicine cat anymore because she cared about Hawktalon the way she did.

Dovepaw cleared her throat and meowed, "Let's go practice some basic fighting techniques Silverpaw." Silverpaw just nodded and followed her with a mind full of wonder. They padded straight into the middle of the clearing and began circling each other playfully.

"Why would she ask you that?" Silverpaw blurted before she leapt and pinned Dovepaw who she had caught off guard glancing over at her mentor down. "Do you really think she has that much doubt when it comes to your loyalty?"

Dovepaw kicked her hind paws upward but Silverpaw kept a strong grip on her. "Of course she does, every cat probably does. I mean, you noticed as a kit! It wouldn't be hard for a grown cat to notice."

Silverpaw powerfully used her hind legs to rake Dovepaw's belly with sheathed claws, knocking the air out of the she-cat. She leapt off of her, rolled, and pounced upward to land on all four paws. "I'm just intelligent I guess," She made a silly face before she continued what she was saying. "My brother and Lostpaw don't seem to notice and I don't see my mother or Swiftstar doubting you."

Dovepaw gasped for air for a moment before she forced all her weight upward to knock Silverpaw off. She then began to bat her forepaw at Silverpaw with sheathed claws as she meowed, "What you're saying is true. Maybe it is only you and Rootpath that have the slightest clue. You are both very wise cats, even if you are a lot younger than her."

Silverpaw bent her legs to pounce at Dovepaw when she heard a mixture of different voices coming from the camp entrance. She turned her head to see her brother, Lostpaw, Hawktalon, and Cloudwhisper padding into camp each having one to two pieces of prey in their jaws.

"I see they had a successful hunt." Dovepaw meowed before she touched her muzzle to Silverpaw's cheek to get her attention, the young silver tabby she-cat looking over at Lostpaw. "I better go check up with Rootpath." Silverpaw flicked her tail and dipped her head goodbye before she padded over to Bravepaw who was glaring at Lostpaw. The solid black tom had two pieces of fresh-kill in his jaws whereas Bravepaw had one

"I almost had that mouse of his." Bravepaw mumbled through his rabbit's hair. Silverpaw rolled her eyes because he had immediately starting to complain. The two of them then padded over to the fresh-kill pile where he dropped his rabbit and continued. "I was just about to pounce on it when he darted over and smacked it into a tree! He's a lousy hunter."

Silverpaw went to agree with him because hunting a mouse like that did seem like a poor way of hunting, but Lostpaw came over with Bravepaw's mouse and a vole. The big headed black tom dropped them both in the fresh-kill pile and greeted Silverpaw kindly. He then looked at Bravepaw teasingly.

Silverpaw looked at Lostpaw and meowed, "Hello Lostpaw." She looked at the mouse he had apparently squashed against a tree and it looked like every bone in its body had been shattered. It would be hard to eat such a messed up mouse. She didn't bother to comment and started a conversation that couldn't go wrong. "I'm sorry I slept in and couldn't join you."

"It's fine. Maybe we can go out training together?" Lostpaw suggested.

Silverpaw nodded gently. It would be nice to go outside of camp with him for a change. "Why don't you go ask Swiftstar if you can train with me today? I'll go get Hawktalon." She then stood up and left her brother behind excitedly as she headed over to Hawktalon who was getting checked up on by Rootpath.

"Are you alright for a training session today Hawktalon?" Silverpaw asked as she approached them. "Lostpaw is off asking Swiftstar to come with us today, if we are."

Hawktalon looked up at Rootpath as she finished checking up on him. "Thank you." He then looked at Silverpaw with wide annoyed eyes. "Fine, but you better make sure he behaves and pays attention because I can't be training three restless cats at once by myself."

Silverpaw followed her mentor out of the den and watched him as he headed over to the camp entrance where she guessed he would wait for her, Cloudwhisper, and Lostpaw. She then darted off over to Lostpaw when she saw that he had just left Swiftstar's den. "Well?" Silverpaw urged him, eager to train.

Lostpaw looked at Silverpaw with eyes that glowed with excitement and joy. "He said okay and that it will be one less cat for him to train for now." He nudged Silverpaw playfully before darting off towards Hawktalon, Silverpaw darting after him.

Hawktalon flicked his tail warning the two to stop before they crashed into him. He narrowed his eyes and meowed, "Where's Cloudwhisper?" He then let out a loud frustrated yowl, "Cloudwhisper!"

Silverpaw turned her head and looked around camp not seeing her mother anywhere. She began to grow worried and darted towards the warriors' den with pricked ears. "Are you in here?" she thought aloud. She breathed in the stale den air and looked around confused. She could smell her mother's sweet TreeClan scent but she couldn't see her anywhere. She waited a few moments longer until she got fed up and even more worried and began to push her muzzle around through the moss until she spotted a soft grey patch of fur. She grabbed her mother as best as she could and dragged her out of the warriors' den. Her heart raced and fear seemed to grip at her throat. She couldn't breathe. Was her dear mother dead?


	6. Chapter 5

Dovepaw darted over and looked at Cloudwhisper who had now begun to shake with fear. She pulled her ears back against her head and meowed, "Cloudwhisper, what's wrong?"

Silverpaw looked back at Lostpaw and Hawktalon who were watching from the camp entrance with wide eyes. She turned her head back around and looked at her mother who finally replied to the medicine cat apprentice, her eyes now open.

"My stomach started to hurt so I tried to lie down but the pain just got worse and I started rolling around in the moss until I went unconscious..."

Silverpaw looked into her mother's eyes to see that she was in a great amount of pain. The pale grey she-cat was sinking her claws into the ground and pressing herself against the ground, looking as if she had been crushed. Silverpaw looked up at Dovepaw with worry and meowed, "Is there something you can do for her? Do you know why she's in pain?"

Dovepaw nodded confidently. "I can give her some chervil juice and some juniper berries." She then began to poke and prod at the she-cat's belly before meowing, "Perhaps she ate a piece of kill that was on the edge of becoming crowfood. It's happened before and wouldn't surprise me."

Silverpaw nodded slowly before she turned her back on them and padded over to Lostpaw and Hawktalon still worried about her mother. She narrowed her eyes at Lostpaw and wondered if her mother had eaten his shattered mouse and accidentally eaten a bone or two. She then though thought about how her mother had described green cough and how it caused cats to feel very ill and have trouble breathing. She began to grow worried so she shook the thoughts away and left camp with her friend and mentor.

Silverpaw crouched down, her tail straight out and her head lowered. She narrowed her eyes at the robin in front of her and pounced, sending it into the air as she landed in front of it. She then immediately jumped up into the air and snagged the robin's wing with her claws. She brought it down to the ground and landed on top of it to shut the screeching bird up before she bit its neck swiftly, taking its life.

Lostpaw padded over with his chest puffed out and his big black head held high. The two of them had grown and learned a lot in the moon and a half since they became apprentices and they looked just like young warriors. They still had their errors though and still had stuff to learn.

"Nice catch." Lostpaw praised her as he used his tail to remove the dirt from his kill that he had caught earlier, a mouse and a shrew. "I think we have enough don't you?"

Silverpaw rolled her eyes and meowed, "There can never be enough fresh-kill silly." She picked up her robin and a mouse that she had caught earlier as well and said, her voice muffled slightly, "It's the end of green-leaf and leaf-fall will be here within the blink of an eye. We will need the extra prey."

Lostpaw nodded and picked up his kill before they both padded back towards camp together, their pelts brushing every so often.

Silverpaw didn't notice when their pelts brushed and kept silent as she looked straight ahead with pricked ears. Once they had made it to the camp entrance they raced each other to the fresh-kill pile with heavy purrs. They both dropped their kill before Silverpaw leapt at Lostpaw pinning him down playfully.

"Hey!" Lostpaw _mrrowed _before he kicked his hind paws upward, sending Silverpaw jumping backwards. She caught her balance quickly as she landed before she swiftly pounced at Lostpaw again, sending them both tumbling across the clearing. Silverpaw lied across Lostpaw's back purring in amusement once they had stopped rolling.

"That didn't go very well." Lostpaw whispered gently as he looked her in her big, round, brown eyes.

"Silverpaw," Bravepaw meowed as he approached them, fury blazing in _his_ round brown eyes. "The gathering is tonight, shouldn't you be getting ready?"

Silverpaw stood up and faced her brother knowing that he would do anything to separate her from Lostpaw who he still hated with a passion. "All I have to do is groom my pelt and eat a mouse Bravepaw." She retorted angrily. "It won't take me from sunhigh to sunset to do so." She growled angrily before she turned back to Lostpaw, making a goofy face to mock her brother.

Bravepaw rolled his eyes and padded away growling in annoyance. Silverpaw wanted to run after him and drag her claws across his nose because she was so angry but she knew she couldn't. Her mother wouldn't like it, and neither would Swiftstar if he found out. Silverpaw knew as well that he was just trying to be protective of his sister. She turned to Lostpaw and meowed, "Did Swiftstar say you were going to the gathering?"

Lostpaw looked at his paws with a sigh and meowed, "I didn't go last gathering and I won't be going this gathering either." He stood up and shook his pelt before meowing, "But that's alright. I'll gladly guard camp." The black tom then turned and padded away towards the fresh-kill pile, his tail dragging in the dirt. Silverpaw understood how he felt. The Clan probably wasn't ready to have the 'lost' tom represent their Clan at a gathering with the other Clans watching their every move.

"Silverpaw," Cloudwhisper meowed as she walked gently towards her, her ears pricked with wonder. "Is Lostpaw alright?" She seemed to be back to normal again because there was no sign of pain in the she-cat's eyes.

Silverpaw turned her head to face her mother and sighed, shaking her head. Instead of explaining what was wrong with Lostpaw she turned and rushed over to the medicine cat den to talk to Dovepaw.

Once she reached the medicine cat den she poked her head inside and whispered, "Dovepaw?" Within a couple of heartbeats the brown and grey furred she-cat came from the inside of the den and meowed, "Yes?"

Silverpaw flicked her ears and whispered, "Lostpaw isn't going to the gathering. I wanted to introduce him to his brother, but I can't when he is guarding camp!"

Dovepaw wriggled her nose in thought as she looked around for a moment. "Well, I don't really know how to help you. I would ask Rootpath to talk to Swiftstar but if I did she would ask why and I would have to tell her about how you made friends with a DarkClan cat!"

Silverpaw narrowed her eyes at Dovepaw and hissed slightly to warn the she-cat to quiet down. "I didn't make friends with him. We have only talked once, not including the last gathering, but that was over two moons ago." She looked out into the clearing and saw Bravepaw sitting alone by the apprentices' den. Ever since Lostpaw had come to TreeClan they hadn't been very close and it was really starting to hurt.

Dovepaw looked at Silverpaw and nuzzled her, trying to comfort her. "I know," she meowed. She then looked at Bravepaw as well and meowed, "He still dislikes Lostpaw and you're still hurting because of it aren't you?"

Silverpaw nodded slowly still looking over at her brother. She wished that Bravepaw would stop feeling so threatened by Lostpaw and just be friends with him so that she could be happy again like she had been as a kit.

"Well if it makes you feel better, they might start seeing that they will be equally brave and strong warriors when they are closer to becoming warriors." Dovepaw's eyes glowed as she glanced over at Bravepaw. "Bravepaw is going to the gathering isn't he?"

Silverpaw gave Dovepaw a questioning looked and meowed, "I'm not sure. Why?" She twisted her head around when she felt something crawling through her fur. She began to bite at herself in annoyance.

"Well maybe you two can talk there if he is because Lostpaw won't be there." She narrowed her eyes at where Silverpaw was biting herself and meowed, "Hold still." She began poking at Silverpaw's fur and meowed, "You have ticks… I was supposed to check every cat earlier today for ticks but I forgot. Looks like I'll do you first,"

Silverpaw growled in annoyance as she continued to be tickled and bit by the ticks. Her skin was itchy and felt like it was burning. She followed Dovepaw into the nursery and sat down where Dovepaw told her to.

"Hold this in your mouth, it'll mask the smell." Dovepaw ordered as she pawed lavender towards Silverpaw. Silverpaw nodded and held the lavender in her jaws as Dovepaw used a stick to dab what she knew to be mouse bile onto the areas where the ticks were in Silverpaw's fur. The nasty stuff reeked, even though the lavender smell was clinging to the inside of her nostrils.

When Dovepaw was finished she called Rootpath for approval and let Silverpaw drop the lavender.

"Very good job Dovepaw, but I instructed you to check _every _cat as soon as you woke at sunrise." Rootpath meowed with a hint of disappointment in her voice. She then padded towards the back of the den, over to her pile of herbs before shouting, "Don't forget to rinse your paws when you're done!"

Dovepaw sighed and muttered, "I know Rootpath." She looked at Silverpaw and meowed, "Can you call another cat in when you leave?"

Silverpaw nodded and whispered, "Have you talked to Hawktalon yet?"

Dovepaw instead of replying just stared at Silverpaw in embarrassment. Silverpaw knew by the glint in her eyes that she had forgotten to talk to the young tom. Silverpaw just rolled her eyes and trotted out of the den. She called Bravepaw over.

"What is it Silverpaw?" Bravepaw meowed, his tail lashing as he looked at his sister. He was probably still upset that Silverpaw was such good friends with the one cat he hated, but Silverpaw wasn't about to stop being friends with Lostpaw. He was the only other cat her age other than Bravepaw that she could talk to and that she could train with.

"Dovepaw needs you." Silverpaw stated simply before she brushed past him, shoving him over to the side a little to show him some attitude. She hoped he would realize that he was making a big mistake by being angry with her.

Bravepaw stared at her in astonishment for a moment but she ignored him and made her way over to the fresh-kill pile where she grabbed a mouse for herself to eat. Her stomach was growling at her in demand of some fresh-kill. She sank her teeth into the mouse's flesh and ate it contently, cherishing every bite. She knew it wouldn't last forever because when leaf-fall arrived the prey would go into hiding for a few moons.

"Will all cat's old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Silverpaw turned her head to watch as her Clan leader leapt swiftly onto the highrock. She kicked some dirt over the remains of the mouse she had eaten and padded over to the highrock, taking her place in the back between Bravepaw and Lostpaw.

Swiftstar looked up at the sky that was slowly beginning to turn a blood orange colour much earlier than it had been all green-leaf. Silverpaw knew that it was because leaf-fall would be there soon and everything would get darker and colder much faster.

"The sun is setting and I think now would be the appropriate time to decide who will be the deputy of the Clan." Swiftstar announced.

Silverpaw stared up at him in disbelief. She couldn't believe that it had been two moons already. She looked around at the small Clan and knew there was only one option for the deputy, Hawktalon. Hawktalon was a young but fine warrior who was loyal to his Clan and Swiftstar even if they weren't the best of friends anymore. It had to be him. But then Silverpaw began to wonder, would he still want to run away with Dovepaw once he became deputy? Would he _remain_ loyal?

"I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice." Swiftstar meowed, distracting Silverpaw from her worries. "The new deputy of TreeClan will be Hawktalon."

Silverpaw watched as the leader relaxed, almost looking relieved that the two of them could hopefully come together and work together. Silverpaw thought back on how she had been on Hawktalon's side the entire time, but should have been on Swiftstar's knowing how foolish and selfish Hawktalon had been acting.

The Clan began to cheer Hawktalon's name with pride and the cats crowded him to congratulate him. Swiftstar growled and meowed, "Did I say I was done?" He waited until the Clan was focused on him again.

Silverpaw glanced over at her mentor who dipped his head towards her respectfully. She then looked back up at Swiftstar, her silver tabby tail sweeping over the ground.

"The gathering is tonight and I would like Rootpath, Dovepaw, Hawktalon, and Silverpaw to accompany me. I know our group won't be very big but I would like at least three cats to stay back and stand guard at camp. You all may disperse for now but I want the cats coming to the gathering to meet me when the sky starts to turn dark by the entrance."

Bravepaw jumped to his paws and snarled, "This is an outrage! I've worked my tail off to impress my mentor and he won't even bring me to the gathering?" He glanced over at Lostpaw and growled before he trotted off towards the apprentices' den to sulk.

Silverpaw looked at Lostpaw who had watched Bravepaw walk off in confusion. "Was that his way of blaming me?" he asked her. "I don't understand what I ever did to him anyway."

Silverpaw nudged him playfully and told him that Bravepaw was just full of himself and couldn't handle it when he didn't get his way even though she knew the real reason. Bravepaw was blaming him because they had the same mentor which probably led him to believe that Swiftstar had focused more on Lostpaw, even if he wasn't going either.

"Yeah, I guess he is." Lostpaw agreed before he nudged her back. "I'm going to go get a nap in before you leave, so I'll see you when you get back from the gathering I guess." He then nuzzled her goodbye.

Silverpaw nuzzled him back gently with a faint purr. She watched him walk away and vanish into the apprentices' den before she lied down and gave her chest fur a couple of licks, not knowing what to do until she left for the gathering.

The sky finally started to turn a dark blue after what seemed to be forever. The first stars of silverpelt began to glow in the sky and the gathering cats, including Silverpaw, were gathering at the camp entrance. Swiftstar had made sure every cat was there before they had headed out of camp and reached the border where BreezeClan and TreeClan were separated. Usually they would then cross through the open territory and be at the clearing where the gatherings were held, surrounded by oak trees that provided a ceiling of leaves above them.

"Don't move!" a cat yowled from further up a hill in BreezeClan territory. Within a couple of heartbeats BreezeClan cats came rushing down with threatening yowls and snarls.

Silverpaw moved closer to Hawktalon unsure if she should turn and run or leap forward and fight.

The dark brown she-cat that was in the lead stepped towards Swiftstar and growled. "Just because StarClan gave you permission to pick your deputy late doesn't mean that you can cross through my territory whenever you feel like it!"

Swiftstar sat calmly and looked her in the eyes. He bravely replied, "Tigerstar, we have always crossed through your territory to get to the gathering spot or have you forgotten?"

Silverpaw glanced towards her leader and watched as he glanced back towards her and Hawktalon who had his fur puffed out in annoyance.

"I told you last gathering Swiftstar that I would like you to start going along our border, not straight through." Tigerstar meowed furiously. Silverpaw could see that she was trying her best to hold her ground by literally sinking her claws into it. "But of course, a Clan with _kittypets_ led by a tom who's only been leader for over a moon would never listen to a stronger Clan such as BreezeClan."

Silverpaw grew infuriated and faced the BreezeClan leader with a loud growl. "At least we aren't worried that some cats going to come and knock us down!" She flicked her tail towards Tigerstar's claws which were still sunken into the ground. Silverpaw held her head high and proud when she heard Swiftstar purring behind her.

Tigerstar crouched down in front of her and looked her in the eyes. She spat into her face. "Listen here you little fur ball…" She glanced up at Swiftstar who was arching his back with a hiss and then back at Silverpaw. "I can have your tail removed within a heartbeat and since you are no longer a kit, I am aloud to do so." She stood up straight and flicked her tail, signaling for her Clan to calm themselves since they were still growling and snarling behind her.

Silverpaw sat down and wrapped her soft tail around her paws neatly. She lifted her head up and pricked her ears and acted as if Tigerstar didn't intimidate her at all even though she did slightly.

"I suggest before you start saying anything young one that you realize that the consequences will certainly be horrific." She then turned her head and meowed, "Blackfang, bring up the rear of these mouse-brains and I'll bring up the front. The rest of BreezeClan, stay on the sides."

The walk to the gathering was very long and silent. Silverpaw knew that if they hadn't been caught going through BreezeClan's territory that the walk would have been half as long. They were lucky when they had all gotten there before the full moon just in time to start the gathering.

Silverpaw watched as Swiftstar climbed up onto the rocks in the middle of the clearing along with Redstar, Tigerstar, and another cat that had a silver pelt. She looked around quickly for where the other apprentices had gathered and padded over glad when she spotted Coldpaw.

"Hey look, it's the kittypet." One of the BreezeClan apprentices with dark brown tabby fur snapped. Silverpaw was surprised when Coldpaw turned to him and whispered angrily, "Shut your muzzle Oatpaw, the leaders are about to start!" He then turned to Silverpaw with kind eyes and whispered, "Where is my brother?"

Silverpaw looked at the other apprentices who were too busy snickering rude jokes about her blood and whispered in return, "He wasn't chosen to come, but I think I have a plan. A short period of time before all the Clans leave for their territory we can leave and go to TreeClan camp as fast as possible. You can talk to him for a few moments and then I can get you out of our territory safely and quickly."

Coldpaw gave Silverpaw an 'are you serious' kind of look. He continued to give her the look until he finally sighed and meowed, "Fine, but if I get into trouble I will have your tail." He then turned and watched the leaders as they began.

"Silverstar, you can go first." Swiftstar meowed as he relaxed on the rock. "How's StreamClan?"

The StreamClan leader, the silver she-cat, looked at Swiftstar and meowed, "We're good. We have more warriors thanks to the sudden outbreak of loners by twoleg place."

"Is the whole forest going to be built up of kittypets?" Redstar growled as he turned to face Silverstar, his small brown eyes burning furiously. "Don't you remember when the Clans hated kittypets? Life was perfect then!"

Silverstar growled and snapped at Redstar, "Don't get your fur in a bunch Redstar." She calmed herself and looked out over the gathered cats. "They aren't kittypets. They are just loners who have been showing up around twoleg place. They claim that they were born in the wild just like us."

"So there is a fifth Clan now? We must wipe them out immediately before they try and take over our Clans!" Redstar growled and bent his legs, ready to pounce and start a fight. "Green cough took most of our cats before, and I'm not about to let some kittypets take our cats now!"

Swiftstar leapt to his paws and padded over to Redstar with an angry snarl. "They aren't kittypets, end of story. Besides, there can't possibly be enough of them to take out four Clans."

"I think I'll go next!" Tigerstar yowled out of frustration. She sat down and wrapped her fluffy brown tail around her paws neatly. "You all know that our queen Shadespots had kits three moons ago. The three of them are growing and becoming strong and will become great warriors."

"I congratulate your Clan and Shadespots." Silverstar meowed with kind yet anxious green eyes. Something told Silverpaw that she wanted to hurry the gathering before any fights broke out.

"Swiftstar, why don't you go now?" Tigerstar mumbled, obviously also trying to avoid Redstar's lust for battle.

Swiftstar nodded his head to her in thanks before he stood up and meowed, "Our apprentices are training well and even though we haven't gotten any new cats in our Clan for three or four moons we are growing stronger." Just as he finished speaking there was a bright flash across the sky above the leafy oak top of the clearing. The Clans started to murmur in fear and wonder, for they had no idea a storm was supposed to come.

"Calm down!" Silverstar yowled as another flash of lightning lit up the dark clearing, causing her silver fur to glow like a StarClan cat. "Gather your Clans you three and get back to your territories as fast as you can!"

Silverpaw watched as the four leaders sprang down from the rock and into the large groups of cats below who were running every which way to find their Clanmates. She said goodbye to Coldpaw and told him that they're plan would have to wait until next gathering before she darted off towards her mentor, afraid of what could happen.

Once Swiftstar had gathered all of his Clan they began darting in the direction they came wanting to get to their territory safely through BreezeClan's open territory.

"I thought I told you the border!" Tigerstar yowled as she leapt at Swiftstar angrily clawing at his side. Swiftstar let out an angry yowl and Hawktalon darted over, pulling Tigerstar away from him. "This is no time to fight. We have to go! It's too dangerous out here under all these trees!"

Tigerstar growled and spat in Hawktalon's face before she raced away after the rest of her Clan.

Silverpaw nudged Swiftstar's shoulder, afraid that he had been seriously injured. "Are you okay?" By then, rain had begun to pour down. Her light grey tabby fur clung to her slender body. Another strike of lightning made her jump and she shook cold and frightened. A rumble of thunder shook the ground below her and she darted off in fear just like her mother had on the thunderpath.

"Silverpaw wait!" Hawktalon yowled as he darted after her and grabbed her by her scruff, stopping her where she was. "It's okay, I promise. As long as we stick together." He looked her in her deep brown eyes and touched his nose to her soft muzzle. "It'll be alright."

Silverpaw nodded and stood there against him for warmth. "Okay." She then followed him back over to where Swiftstar, Dovepaw, and Rootpath were waiting worriedly. She watched as Swiftstar flicked his tail before they all raced down the hill into TreeClan territory,

They were almost to camp when Cloudwhisper ran into Swiftstar and meowed, "I was worried so I came to see if you were coming!"

Silverpaw watched as Swiftstar growled and meowed, "Get back to camp before you get hurt." She went to run up to her mother but stopped when she saw another flash of lightning. She pricked her ears and slowly walked backwards in fear when she heard a crackling noise from somewhere in the trees around them.

"Watch out!" Hawktalon yowled as he shoved Silverpaw, Swiftstar, Dovepaw, and Rootpath back, twisting his head around to look in Cloudwhisper's direction who was looking up in horror, too stiff and cold to even try to run.


	7. Chapter 6

The tree nearest to them came crashing down towards Cloudwhisper and the leafy top of the tree covered the others, preventing them from seeing what was going on.

Silverpaw managed to crawl out from under the leaf covered branches of the fallen oak tree and yowled worriedly to see if her Clanmates were alright. She was slightly relieved when Hawktalon, Dovepaw, and Rootpath stuck their heads out from the branches gasping for air as she did, the wind having been knocked out of them.

Silverpaw made her way over to Dovepaw and Rootpath who were close to each other. They had climbed out from under the tree and were panting heavily, their eyes wide due to the shocking event. Their pelts were soaked from the cold rain.

"Where are Cloudwhisper and Swiftstar?" Dovepaw asked.

"No!" Hawktalon yowled from further inside the tree. Silverpaw leapt underneath the branches crawled through them until she was at his side shaking terribly. Until she reached him she had wondered if Swiftstar was caught underneath the tree and losing his lives quickly.

Then she finally understood why Hawktalon had been yowling in horror. She began to wail in grief at the sight of both her mother and Swiftstar stuck underneath the tree lying limp. She approached her mother, grabbed her scruff, and tried desperately to pull her out but she was too tired and weak and the tree was way too heavy. She looked at Swiftstar and guessed that he had somehow tried to save Cloudwhisper, but failed.

Hawktalon pressed against Silverpaw and meowed, "You're going to fall ill if you don't get back to camp now with Dovepaw and Rootpath. I'll try and get them out from under this tree."

Silverpaw wanted to stay there pressed against Hawktalon's warm body with her mother but she knew that if she didn't she would fall ill and probably be killed by another falling tree. She nuzzled Hawktalon and whispered, "Be careful." She looked down at her the silver furred she-cat who had been known as her mother and shivered when she noticed that her eyes remained wide open, dull and lifeless just like Bravestar's had been. She then crawled out from underneath the branches of the tree and padded over Rootpath and Dovepaw with pain and loss piercing her heart. "Hawktalon recommends we get back to camp."

The three of them rushed back to camp and to the medicine cat den. Each one of them shivered, their faces each with a different emotion. Dovepaw was looking worriedly down at her paws probably worried about Hawktalon. Rootpath looked angry and frustrated at herself probably wondering why she hadn't bothered to see what was happing. Silverpaw looked glumly down at her paws. She couldn't believe that her mother was probably dead.

Lostpaw and Bravepaw darted into the medicine cat den after them, their short furred pelts clinging to their body. Lostpaw shook himself dry as best as he could before he rushed over to Silverpaw and nuzzled her worriedly. "What happened? Where are Hawktalon and Swiftstar?"

Bravepaw growled at Lostpaw and raised his paw to slash at Lostpaw with his sharp claws but Silverpaw growled softly in warning to stop and he placed his paw down on the ground once again. He glared at Lostpaw as he meowed, "I think there is a question more important." He then shot a burning brown glare over to her. "Where is our mother?"

Silverpaw panted and looked around at the cats that surrounded her. Each of them wanted to know exactly what she knew but to know what she knew broke her heart completely. "Cloudwhisper and Swiftstar got caught under a falling tree… I-I think she's dead and that Swiftstar will lose all of his lives if he can't get free." She sunk her claws into the ground, feeling dizzy and nauseous. "Hawktalon is back by the fallen tree trying to get them out from underneath it…"

Bravepaw looked Silverpaw in her eyes and hissed, "Don't play games Silverpaw! Where are they?!" He sunk his claws into the ground and growled out of frustration. Obviously the young tom didn't want to believe that both his mother and his leader might be dying or dead.

Lostpaw snapped at Bravepaw, "Will you stop?!" He pressed against Silverpaw and let her rest against him. He began to reassure her, "It will be okay. I'm sure they are both fine. Hawktalon will bring them home and everything will be okay…"

Silverpaw stayed silent and just shook her head. She shoved her muzzle into her wet muddy paws as she lied down. She wanted to screech out in pain but she didn't have the energy or strength to do so. She wished she could believe that her mother was still alive, but she knew that she had been right underneath the tree's path just as StarClan must had known she was going to be. She now understood what the dream had meant, it had been Cloudwhisper's moment of death.

They waited there together silently for what seemed to be forever until the rain eventually stopped. They all waited curled up together, grooming each other's pelts whispering soothing words of hope but the reassuring words stopped when Hawktalon padded into the den with a heavy head, soaked in both blood and rain water.

Silverpaw slowly rose to her paws and wobbled over to him, falling in front of him weakly. She looked up at him with begging eyes and all the tom did was shake his head. He then padded over to the rest of the cats and meowed, "Cloudwhisper is dead and her body is in the clearing. Swiftstar lost two lives and is now resting in his den. Rootpath, you should go see to him and Dovepaw, see to the others."

Bravepaw let out an ear deafening wail behind Silverpaw before he headed out of the den, no spirit and no energy left in his step. Silverpaw followed after him as best she could, wanting to say goodbye to her mother just as much as he did.

Silverpaw had always known that her mother would never have been a good warrior but she hadn't ever thought for a moment that her mother would have had to go off to StarClan so soon in her life like she had. She shoved her muzzle into her mother's now cold neck fur when they reached her and meowed, "Goodbye, I know StarClan will accept you…" She then stepped away in exhaustion to let her brother say his goodbyes as well. She turned and padded towards the apprentices' den needing a nice long sleep.


	8. Chapter 7

Silverpaw awoke when the sun rose into the sky, the light scaring her because she thought the lightning had returned. She stood up and padded outside to feel a cold breeze ruffle her fur gently. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked around wondering if it had all been a dream. When she realized it hadn't been, all the energy she had gained from sleeping seemed to vanish, making her bones feel stiff and heavy.

The ground was soft but not muddy like it had been before and the sky was filled with leaf-fall clouds. Green-leaf was coming to a close and now the Clan would have a harder time with survival. Especially with all the grieving.

Silverpaw felt sick at the thought of eating but her stomach kept growling at her and she forced herself to take one of the older pieces of fresh-kill from the fresh-kill pile, making sure it hadn't become crowfood first.

"Silverpaw, are you alright?" Lostpaw asked her as he settled down by her side and looked at the piece of kill she was eating with a disgusted look written across his face. "They took her and they buried her… She will forever be honoured."

Silverpaw looked up from the slowly rotting mouse she was eating and growled, her eyes narrowing at him warning him to shut his mouth. She wasn't ready to imagine her mother's cold dead body buried underneath the muddy dirt that the storm had left behind.

"I'm going hunting…" She meowed, nudged the disgusting mouse at her paws away, and stood up. Hawktalon must've heard because he hurried over and hissed sternly, "No one is leaving camp." He glanced at Lostpaw who had sunk his claws into the ground. "We don't know how dangerous it is out there with all the fallen trees. I'll go hunting and only I will go. Do I make myself clear?"

Silverpaw looked up at Hawktalon with dull, lifeless eyes before she slowly made her way over to Bravepaw who was sunning himself by the warriors' den. She had to talk to him.

"I need you Bravepaw," Bravepaw looked up as she approached him. "Please stop hating me because Lostpaw is my friend and just be here for me, like I am here for you." Silverpaw continued to plead.

Bravepaw looked at her in shock. "I will always be here for you," His eyes flashed lovingly. "I'm your litter-mate for StarClan's sake! I just worry that he will be the better warrior and that you'll be fonder of him because of it. I don't want to lose the only kin left in my life now."

Silverpaw pushed her head along her brother's jawline. She lied down beside him, still mourning her mother's death so much that her legs quivered. She looked up at the sky and thought to herself, _StarClan if you accepted my mother let her know I love her and send me a sign. If you didn't, I need to know why._ She closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift away, trying to relax.

Bravepaw placed his head on top of Silverpaw's and yawned with exhaustion. The two of them quickly fell asleep underneath the warm sun even though the wind that brushed over the forest made them shiver ever so slightly in their sleep.

Silverpaw woke in the apprentices' den with a yawn before she sat up and inhaling the cool air. As she exhaled, her breathe chilled and looked like little white clouds for a heartbeat before they vanished in time for the next little white cloud to form. She stretched her back before she padded into the clearing with pricked ears.

It had been two moons since the storm that had killed her mother and taken two of Swiftstar's lives had passed. Twolegs had come into the forest for a short time with their huge yellow monsters and had cleared out all the fallen trees.

Dovepaw was now Doveflight after helping every cat in TreeClan when they got sick from the big storm that had officially ended green-leaf and now for once in moons, everything seemed perfectly normal other than the fact that the camp felt empty due to Cloudwhisper's death.

"Silverpaw are you ready for the dawn patrol?" Hawktalon asked gently as he approached her, Lostpaw and Bravepaw behind him. The two toms were glaring at each other like usual before the both of them looked at Silverpaw lovingly.

"I'm ready." She ignored her stomach growling at her as the four of them left camp, scenting and catching a scrawny mouse on their way to the border.

"Leaf-fall is terrible. The prey is hiding, there is ice everywhere, and it is so cold!" Bravepaw complained.

"It could be worse Bravepaw."

Hawktalon nodded slowly and meowed, "Lostpaw's right. There could be absolutely no prey, snow everywhere, and no camp to try and get warm in. But I don't think we shouldn't jinx it, do you?"

Silverpaw shook her head for Bravepaw as she glanced at him. They went along the rest of the border in silence, carrying the tiny mouse that wouldn't fill a cat's stomach even half way. She listened for more prey and hoped something would show but all she could hear was the strong breeze that ruffled her fur sending shivers up her spine.

"We should spread out and try to find some more prey." Bravepaw suggested. He then darted off down deeper into their territory.

Silverpaw watched as her mentor followed after him, leaving Lostpaw and her alone by the border that separated DarkClan from TreeClan just before the thunderpath. They lied down and scented the air for prey multiple times but could only smell the faint scent of a rabbit probably a few days old.

Silverpaw looked out into DarkClan territory and remembered how her mother had at first almost died because of a racing monster.

"Well this is stinks…" Lostpaw muttered, interrupting her thoughts. He swept the icy ground with his tail. "We're going to go hungry for the next two seasons aren't we?"

Silverpaw shrugged and meowed, "We might be _hungry_ but we won't starve. As long as we find the occasional mouse we should be able to survive." She stretched her front legs out in front of her before she pricked her ears hearing some cat calling her. She got up and tasted the air, smelling a DarkClan cat. She padded closer to the bush on her side of the border where the scent was coming from and gasped when she saw Coldpaw crouched down behind it, sliding on the icy ground in place cautiously.

"What are you doing here?!" Silverpaw hissed frustratedly. She looked back at Lostpaw who was grooming himself thoroughly and then back at Coldpaw, slightly relieved that Lostpaw was paying no attention to her.

"He doesn't know you're his brother or that we know each other so if he sees you he'll chase you off, or at least try to."

Coldpaw padded out from behind the bush and meowed, "It's been four moons since we have had an actual conversation. I need him to know Silverpaw. Wouldn't you want the same for your litter mates?"

Silverpaw turned her head when Lostpaw looked in Silverpaw's direction and called for her. She glanced worriedly at Coldpaw once Lostpaw had stood up, curiosity clearly starting to poke at the young tom.

"I just thought that maybe a rabbit would've been hiding in this bush." Silverpaw called back over to Lostpaw as he questioningly tilted his head. She sighed with relief when Lostpaw nodded and lied back down before she turned to Coldpaw again.

Coldpaw narrowed her eyes at her when she whispered, "This isn't a good idea Coldpaw. What if you get caught?"

The black tom rested the tip of his tail on Silverpaw's shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "I get it Silverpaw. He's your friend and you're afraid he will want him to come live in DarkClan with me once he knows I am his brother and that our mother is back at DarkClan camp as well." He sighed and looked down at his paws momentarily before moving closer to Silverpaw to whisper in her ear, "But you can't hide it from him forever. He deserves to know doesn't he, about who I am and about his past?"

Silverpaw gulped and looked back at Lostpaw who was scenting the air once more for prey. She noticed his eyes narrow and watched as he looked in her direction. She knew he had scented Coldpaw.

"You need to go!" she growled.

Coldpaw went to protest but instead just turned around and vanished into the thick pine trees in his territory when he had noticed Lostpaw coming angrily towards them.

"I swear I could smell a DarkClan cat." Lostpaw growled as he padded over and stood beside Silverpaw, looking into DarkClan's territory. "Did you smell one too or is my nose broken?" He purred and glanced at her teasingly.

Silverpaw looked out towards where Coldpaw had vanished and sighed. She knew that Lostpaw deserved to know if he had family or a past but she didn't want to let go of her friend after everything she had lost already.

"Your brother was just here Lostpaw." Silverpaw confessed guiltily. "He wanted to talk to you but I told him that this wasn't a safe enough meeting spot." She knew that she was lying about why she had not instructed Coldpaw to stay but she also knew that she was at least telling him after four moons of knowing that he had kin within the four Clans. Even if it was a bit late.

Lostpaw looked at her confused. "Did you hit your head off the ice or did you just say I have a brother?" He rasped his rough pink tongue over her ears before meowing with a playful tone to his voice, "I can't possibly have a brother from DarkClan."

Silverpaw looked seriously at him. "Remember the day we became apprentices and I went out with Hawktalon and Cloudwhisper and we ended up fighting some DarkClan cats?" she asked. Her heart began to race as Lostpaw's icy cold gaze stared at her with wonder.

"I ended up tackling him and I guess he could smell your scent on me from when we had shared tongues earlier that day or something. He separated me from the fight and asked me if I knew you."

Lostpaw looked at Silverpaw angrily and meowed, "That was around four moons ago Silverpaw, why didn't you tell me?" He backed away and looked blankly down at the ground. "How did I end up wandering alone at our border instead of in DarkClan with him?"

Silverpaw looked at him and everything she hadn't told him seemed to kill her more inside. She felt like she had betrayed his trust when all she had been trying to do was save herself from the pain of loss.

"You were separated a couple moons before Bravestar found you by Redstar and Coyotepelt. Both your brother, whose name is Coldpaw, and your mother live in DarkClan Lostpaw."

Lostpaw's eyes filled with tears as he listened carefully to everything she said. "Why didn't you tell me this? For moons I've waited to hear that I have family or that I have a life!" He looked away and Silverpaw guessed that he was disappointed.

She pressed against him gently and tried to convince him that she hadn't kept everything from him to hurt him. "I was scared that you would decide to go join DarkClan to be with them…" She watched Lostpaw as he growled and backed away and winced when he lashed out.

"I am loyal to the Clan I am trained in," Lostpaw snarled. "I am not about to leave because I now know I have kin in another Clan. Besides, I _hate _DarkClan!" He began to walk back towards camp after he meowed over his shoulder, "But since I've been lied to so many times and been questioned whether or not I truly belong to TreeClan, maybe I should!"

Silverpaw wanted to run after Lostpaw and tell him that she was sorry but something in her mind told her to stand there like a statue. She knew deep inside that she wasn't really sorry. She knew she had done what she had for the greater good. Hadn't she?

Hawktalon and Bravepaw approached from the bushes, the both of them dragging a thin hare they had caught. Silverpaw had almost forgotten they had been on a patrol with them.

"Where did Lostpaw go? Did he get lost?" Bravepaw meowed with purr. A sparkle in his eye told Silverpaw that he was making a joke.

Silverpaw sighed and looked at her paws. She felt rattled and confused. "He went back to camp." she mumbled. "I said some things and he doesn't feel like he can trust me anymore." She then picked up her scrawny little mouse and dragged her paws back to camp, her tail dragging behind her along the cold frozen ground.

Bravepaw and Hawktalon followed her, not asking what the matter was. When they had gotten closer to camp though, Hawktalon nudged her shoulder gently with his muzzle and signaled for Bravepaw to go ahead. Silverpaw stopped and looked at Hawktalon confused.

"You don't have to tell me anything Silverpaw but I want you to know that you can." Hawktalon murmured gently.

Silverpaw sighed and looked down at her paws, not wanting her mentor to feel like he wasn't trusted.

"I know I can Hawktalon, just not this, not right now." She glanced over at Lostpaw who was now at the camp entrance with Bravepaw. They stared over in her direction silently but Lostpaw looked down at his paws when he noticed her looking back.

"I'm going to go take this mouse to Doveflight and Rootpath." Silverpaw told Hawktalon awkwardly, not sure if he had seen her gaze meet Lostpaw's for that split second. She entered camp, not daring to look Lostpaw in the eyes again as she rushed past him. She headed straight into the medicine cat den quietly, setting down her tiny mouse.

Doveflight padded over to Silverpaw, her brown tail flicking from side the side out of boredom as she nuzzled her cheek gently. "You look troubled, is everything alright?" she asked.

Silverpaw gave Doveflight a small glare knowing that she knew that everything was definitely not alright. She brought herself to relax before she sighed and began to explain herself. When she finished explaining everything, Doveflight nodded understandingly.

"You know you did the right thing right?" Doveflight let her tail rest over Silverpaw's paws. "Lostpaw deserved to know everything regardless." The medicine cat apprentice pressed against Silverpaw trying to reassure her. "He will have to forgive you once he realizes that maybe he doesn't want to lose you either."

Silverpaw nodded and looked Doveflight in her eyes. "Have you talked to Hawktalon yet?" She looked over in Rootpath's direction and realized that the she-cat was staring at them with pricked ears. She winced. She remembered that the cat was only deaf when she wanted to be and had to remember to keep her voice down.

Doveflight looked back at her mentor and then at Silverpaw with sad eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "I talked to him and he's a little upset but to tell you the truth, I think I'm more upset than he is."

Silverpaw glanced over at Rootpath one more time to see she that she had her ears relaxed as she sorted through some different herbs.

"You'll forget about him sooner or later." She meowed before she shook out her pelt and shivered as another cold breeze swept through the camp. She flicked her tail over towards the scrawny mouse she had left by the entrance. "I brought you the mouse I caught. I know it's not much but,"

Doveflight cut her off and mewed, "Its fine." She swiveled her ears in Rootpath's direction as the she-cat's stomach growled loudly. She looked back at her with worried eyes. "She hasn't eaten."

Silverpaw watched Doveflight as she went over and picked up the mouse before she dipped her head to her in farewell. She turned and crawled out of the den, out into the cold camp.

Bravepaw approached her with the hare he and Hawktalon caught earlier on the patrol and dropped it in front of her. "Hawktalon said that I could have it, but I don't want it."

Silverpaw licked her brother's cheek and didn't bother arguing with him about who should eat the hare. She bent down over the hare and tucked her paws below her chest before she ate it quietly. It only took a moment to polish it off considering it had been very thin and not much meat had been on the bones.

When she had finished she looked up at Bravepaw and meowed, "It will be our first full leaf-bare starting in about a moon. Last leaf-bare we were born during the last moons so we didn't really have to worry about survival."

Bravepaw nodded and meowed, "That was Cloudwhisper's job…" He looked away still sensitive about their mother's death.

Silverpaw looked at her paws and remembered the day of the storm when her mother and Swiftstar had both been crushed by the falling tree. Cloudwhisper who only had had one life died immediately while Swiftstar had managed to get away with seven lives left. She remembered the frozen hopeless look in her mother's eyes as the tree came crashing towards her. She thought for a moment that maybe she could've ran and saved her, but she knew she wouldn't have been able to with Hawktalon pushing her protectively back.

As she thought, she could feel her mother calmly sitting beside her. When she went to look though, she saw nothing but her own breath as she exhaled.

"Do you think she's proud of us?" Bravepaw muttered, his eyes filled with tears and wonder. "Do you think that she would be proud with how far we've come as Clan cats?"

Silverpaw looked Bravepaw in his eyes with a gentle purr. She knew that their mother was probably proud beyond words with how much they had developed their skills and talents. "She's probably ecstatic…" she replied, her voice cracking with grief. She wished she could have her mother back.

The two of them sat silently outside the medicine cat den and remembered their mother. They remembered how even though she had been a kittypet she had been led to the Clan by StarClan. The fact that StarClan had connected with her before, reassured them both that she was walking through the skies with them now.

Silverpaw kept thinking about all the stories her mother had told them. She remembered one in particular.

"Remember how she told us about the barn by twoleg place?" Silverpaw whispered not wanting any other cat to hear. "She said that it was filled with plump delicious mice all year long and that we would never get hungry if we lived there."

Bravepaw nodded and shuffled his paws, growing excited. "We should go there and hunt for the Clan! If we do that all leaf-fall and leaf-bare we will never go hungry and always be stronger than BreezeClan and DarkClan!"

Silverpaw flicked her ears wondering how the rest of the Clan would react if two apprentices whose parents were kittypets went to the barn in twoleg place. They would probably think that they wanted to go back to where every cat thought they belonged because they couldn't handle the cold season.

"I'm not so sure the Clan will like that." she admitted to him.

Bravepaw narrowed his eyes at Silverpaw and meowed, "Are you mouse-brained? They would _love_ us if we brought home all those big plump juicy mice! We would be so strong that no Clan could take us down!"

Silverpaw thought about it long and hard, not sure if it would be very wise to go. Eventually she gave in to Bravepaw's intense and begging stare and led him out of the camp hoping that they would make it there and back before dark. She imagined herself sinking her teeth into a warm juicy mouse and began to drool.


	9. Chapter 8

As they headed towards the twoleg place which was past the gathering place, they were careful not to trespass into any territories or run into any other Clan cats. By the time sunhigh had arrived they had reached the twoleg place where they could see a tall red structure that their mother had described moons ago.

Bravepaw's fur stood on end as he exhilarated forward and disappeared through a small hole in the corner of the structure. Silverpaw gulped nervously before she followed after him, wondering if there would be other cats trying to get their claws on a good meal.

The only light was the daylight that peered through the cracks at the top of the barn, just enough to help them see hundreds of mice scattering around through the straw.

"This'll be fun!" Bravepaw purred before he pounced at one of the mice with a yowl, not worrying about scaring away the others away.

Silverpaw sighed and looked around at the barn, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She could smell the scent of different cats, both faint and recent. For some reason she didn't feel like they were supposed to be there. She shook all of her thoughts away and began to hunt.

As she hunted, she forgot about all her problems with Lostpaw and all about her mother and just purred contently. She and Bravepaw hunted until they had caught all they could carry. They then each ate a mouse of their own to keep their strength up before they crawled through the hole once again into the cold air. As soon as they came out of the barn they came face to face with two she-cats who had their fur on end and looked terrified.

"Hello," Bravepaw meowed a kind greeting through his mouthful of mice. "Is this your barn?" He had sunken his claws into the ground, obviously faking his kindness.

The first she-cat who had a pale sandy coloured tabby pelt shook her head and meowed, "Dogs are not too far behind," She panted heavily and looked around with wide eyes. "We need a place to hide!"

The second she-cat was a smoky-grey she-cat who had long silky fur. She was staring directly at Bravepaw with pleading eyes.

Silverpaw glanced over at Bravepaw and wondered who the two she-cats were. They had the barn's scent with a hint of the mice's scent. Couldn't the two she-cats couldn't hide themselves?

"Come with us." Bravepaw meowed, interrupting her thoughts, through the mice he still had in his jaws. He then turned and darted back the way they had come, the two she-cats on his tail. Silverpaw brought up the back.

As they ran, she could hear loud barking noises far behind them and hoped that they would reach the forest before the dogs reached them. She ran faster, nudging the strange she-cats forward when they began to slow down.

Bravepaw and the two she-cats raced farther ahead of Silverpaw who accidentally dropped one of her mice. She quickly turned around and raced to grab it, her heart racing in fear, knowing that StarClan wouldn't be pleased with wasted prey.

One of the two dogs leapt on top of Silverpaw and went to bite down on her neck with its large and strong jaws. Silverpaw growled and clawed the dog's nose before she slid out from under the dog and raced after the others quickly. The dog managed to grab her tail in its jaws but she darted away, saving her tail's life.

Once she had reached them the four ran into the edge of the forest and lied down. They were safe and almost completely unharmed for now.

"You two are Clan cats aren't you?" The sandy colored tabby asked randomly after a few moments of awkward silence. "No kittypet or loner we've ever met would have been able to survive and escape a dog the way you two did." She looked directly at Silverpaw with pricked ears.

Silverpaw purred, embarrassed, knowing that she was talking directly to her. She went to nod her head when a breeze swept over them and DarkClan scent flooded into her mouth. She narrowed her eyes at the two loners. "You're DarkClan cats?"

The smoky grey she-cat nodded and meowed, "We _were_ a part of the Clan for just over two moons until a few moons ago. We realized that DarkClan's terribly muddy territory and disgusting frogs for prey just weren't cutting it for us."

"Now we know that we just can't live by ourselves without getting almost killed by some strange cat or some loose dog." The sandy colored tabby glanced over at Bravepaw strangely. The tom was trying to look at his own nose.

"TreeClan could use more warriors so you could always come back with us." Bravepaw meowed once he had stopped making a fool of himself. "I'm sure Swiftstar will accept you into the Clan if you tell him that you already know the Clan ways and techniques."

The two young she-cats, who looked like they might've been apprentices only a few moons ago, glanced at each other with questioning eyes. The smoky grey she-cat then nodded her head kindly to Bravepaw in acceptance.

Silverpaw led them to TreeClan camp. The sun was setting by now and the sky was beginning to turn a dark blue.

"I have been looking for the both of you everywhere!" Hawktalon snarled angrily. The pale yellow tom trotted over to Silverpaw and Bravepaw and noticed the plump limp mice in their mouths and the two young she-cats behind them.

"You better come explain yourself to Swiftstar." He then turned and walked off, growling in frustration.

Silverpaw and Bravepaw looked at each other nervously before they rushed over to the fresh-kill pile and dropped off the mice they had caught in the barn. They both then walked over to Swiftstar's den, the two she-cats following them. They looked afraid and Silverpaw guessed that they were worried about being attacked or kicked out into the unknown.

Swiftstar glared at the two cats that were unfamiliar to him when they approached him and growled. "Where were you?" he asked Bravepaw and Silverpaw, still looking at the she-cats.

Silverpaw shuffled her paws nervously. Before they had gone off without permission Bravepaw had explained everything to her about how Swiftstar would be kind to the she-cats and would have to understand. At the time she had understood his point but now she was afraid that Swiftstar would make them check their Clanmates for ticks or replace all the stinky bedding in the dens.

Bravepaw looked his leader respectfully in the eyes and meowed, "We went to the barn." He glanced over at Silverpaw who stared at him worriedly. She didn't want him to get in trouble for speaking up.

"You know, the one by twoleg place?" The brown tabby tom continued. "We caught a bunch of really plump mice for the Clan and then we helped these two former DarkClan warriors escape some dogs."

Silverpaw let herself relax, breathing deeply when Swiftstar nodded and meowed, "I thank you for your efforts." She looked back at the two she-cats behind her who were looking at Swiftstar, confused. They probably had only heard of Bravestar leading TreeClan, not Swiftstar.

Silverpaw then started to wonder how Bravestar would've acted in this situation. He would've accepted the two she-cats but he would have also been disappointed with them. If Bravestar was somewhere in StarClan and knew that the dog had almost killed her, he would be furious and concerned.

"But if you two ever go on a dangerous hunting trip like that again while you are apprentices, without a warrior with you, I will make you help Rootpath and Doveflight with all their duties." Swiftstar warned, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Do I make myself clear?"

Silverpaw nodded before she watched Swiftstar as he shifted his gaze over at the two cats who had moved out from behind her and Bravepaw. "What are your names?" he asked.

Silverpaw watched as the sandy coloured she-cat sat down calmly. "My name is Sandstripe and this is Smokecloud." She flicked her tabby tail towards the smoky grey she-cat whose long fur was brushing on the ground as she crouched down in fear.

Swiftstar parted his jaws to taste the air in silence, his nose wriggling. "Is it true, that you were DarkClan cats?" He waited until the two nodded before he continued, "Since you both have some warrior experience and TreeClan is in need of members, you may stay if you wish." The leader lifted his head, seeming to be quite confident in his choice to let the two loners stay.

Silverpaw glanced over at her brother and could see a sense of pride sparkling in his intense brown eyes. He had been confident that Swiftstar would say just what he said.

Smokecloud nodded gently and dipped her head before meowing, her voice as sweet and gentle as the purr of a new mother, "Thank you."

Swiftstar stood up and left the den, his long brown tabby tail flicking contently from side to side. Silverpaw knew that the TreeClan leader was glad there would have more warriors even if they came from a different Clan. But no cat had to know right?

Silverpaw pricked her ears when she heard Swiftstar call a Clan meeting before she flicked her tail, signaling for her brother and the two new warriors to follow. They sat facing Hawktalon, Doveflight, and Rootpath who were looking at the two new cats, confused.

"Earlier Bravepaw and Silverpaw went to the barn without permission. I've already spoken to them about how dangerous it could be because of the twolegs, dogs, and possibly DarkClan cats if they are still getting warriors who were former loners from there." Swiftstar's tabby stripes gleaming in the leaf-fall moonlight. The white parts of his fur glowed, reminding Silverpaw of her mother.

"On their way home they helped two former DarkClan warriors escape some dogs and brought them back. They're names are Sandstripe and Smokecloud."

Hawktalon spun around to look up at Swiftstar and meowed angrily, "Are you really going to shelter these DarkClan cats?" He then looked over his shoulder back at her, Bravepaw, and the two she-cats. "How do you know Redstar didn't send them here to spy on our Clan?"

Silverpaw padded over to him and looked at him with gentle and pleading eyes as she tried to calm him down. "In order for him to plan something like that he would've had to know that Bravepaw and I were going to go to the barn. Unless some cat within the Clan's a traitor that would be almost impossible."

The deputy sighed and relaxed a bit, but his paws still shuffled nervously.

Silverpaw watched Swiftstar as he narrowed his eyes at Hawktalon clearly annoyed that even though the tom was deputy, he continued to question his decisions.

"I haven't even announced my decision yet and you already doubt me, my own deputy?" he asked. He silently shook his head and just continued on with what he was saying.

"They left DarkClan moons ago because the living conditions didn't fit their liking. That's what Redstar told me the first gathering after they had left at least, even though he didn't tell me which cats." The leader lifted his head and looked up at silverpelt. "I am accepting them into this Clan as warriors because they know the basic training and need a Clan. Sandstripe and Smokecloud, since you are new warriors to this Clan even though having been in another Clan before, you will sit vigil tonight."

Silverpaw quietly walked back over to Bravepaw, Sandstripe, and Smokecloud who she had walked away from to reassure Hawktalon. She felt eyes staring at her and pricked her ears, then realizing that Hawktalon was looking back at her nervously. She wondered why and wanted to ask but she waited until Swiftstar had dismissed the Clan before she trotted over.

"Did I do something wrong?" Silverpaw asked worriedly. She didn't want her mentor to be upset with her, especially during a training session where they would have to practice fighting techniques. She sighed with relief and then guilt when he explained to her,

"You didn't do anything wrong Silverpaw. I'm proud that you went and caught those plump mice for the Clan and helped those cats. I'm just upset that you didn't tell me because what if the dog that was chasing those two cats got you? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for my apprentice being killed by such an unintelligent creature."

Silverpaw nodded and pressed her head against Hawktalon's chest with a gentle purr. "I'm not going anywhere." She told him and stepped back, flicking her tail, looking at Hawktalon proudly. "The dog got my tail, but I got away because you trained me Hawktalon." She then remembered that she probably needed to go see Doveflight about the now infected dog bite and padded off towards Doveflight who was just about to enter the medicine cat den.

Doveflight turned her head to see Silverpaw and greeted her with kind eyes. She narrowed her eyes when she saw the infected dog bite which was now really starting to hurt and meowed, "Come with me right away." They both then entered the medicine cat den.


	10. Chapter 9

"Hello Silverpaw." Rootpath meowed as she passed her and left the den, looking worried and distracted.

Silverpaw looked at Doveflight who had chewed up some marigold and chervil and was now pasting it on her infected bite with her paw. The juices stung and made her grind her teeth painfully.

"Is Rootpath okay?" Silverpaw asked. Doveflight stepped back when she was done working on Silverpaw's tail and shrugged. "She might just be worried about the new warriors. If DarkClan finds out they are now our warriors they might want to battle and try to get them to come back."

Silverpaw thanked Doveflight and flicked her tail, trying to loosen the stiffness. She thought about what Doveflight had said and agreed that DarkClan were mouse-brained enough to attack another Clan to get their warriors back even though the two had left the Clan willingly.

"But don't forget that DarkClan might think they are even weaker and decide to leave us alone for a while." She argued. Doveflight shrugged and meowed, "In that case they will have to keep calling as weak, not that they were going to stop to begin with."

Silverpaw purred with amusement for a moment. She noticed in the brown she-cat's eyes that she something was on her mind and went serious. "What's the matter?"

Doveflight gulped and shuffled her paws around nervously while looking at the ground. She then looked her in the eyes and whispered, "I've made a terrible mistake Silverpaw. Remember how I told you that I talked to Hawktalon?" She looked away guiltily and meowed, "I didn't."

Silverpaw tilted her head, confused for a moment. She wondered how not talking to Hawktalon had been a terrible mistake. She remembered the look of grief in her eyes when she had told her that she had talked to Hawktalon and realized that it hadn't been a look of grief, it had been a look of guilt.

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" she asked. "It isn't that bad of a mistake I mean, you can always still go talk to him."

Doveflight lied down and closed her eyes, looking more troubled than ever. She lifted her head up to Silverpaw's and whispered, "I'm expecting his kits Silverpaw…" She flinched away as if she was expecting a paw to come out of nowhere and swat her in the face.

Silverpaw looked at Doveflight shocked. Her jaw dropped. She backed away slowly and crouched down, her fur risen along her back in surprise. She knew that it probably wasn't that big of a deal that she had been secretly in love with Hawktalon but this was. She never thought that Doveflight would do anything so dangerous and risky like have kits!

"Isn't that against the medicine cat code?!" Silverpaw snarled in bewilderment. "How could you let it happen?" She looked around to make sure no cat was within ear shot. "Can you still be a medicine cat? Does Rootpath know?"

Doveflight silenced Silverpaw by swiping her tail over her muzzle. "It is against the code and I don't know how I let it happen Silverpaw. Rootpath doesn't know and maybe I can keep it a secret and keep my rank." She looked away and Silverpaw could tell she was torn between her kits and Hawktalon and her rank as a medicine cat.

Silverpaw touched her nose to Doveflight's cheek and meowed, "I'm here to help you as best I can and I promise that I won't tell a soul." She then thanked her friend once again for helping with her tail before she left the medicine cat den, her fur still ruffled from the shocking news.

Hawktalon approached her and gave her shoulder a couple of comforting licks before meowing, "How's your tail?" He must've noticed her fur was prickling because he tilted his head to the side with concern. "You look like you just saw a badger eating a kit."

Silverpaw moved away from him and jumped in paranoia. She had been completely out of it, unable to process the fact that Dovepaw was carrying his kits.

"I'm fine, its fine, and everything's fine!" she lied, probably overreacting a bit. She rushed off over to the apprentices' den to get some rest as the stars of silverpelt shined brightly above and the camp grew silent.

Silverpaw woke up with her brother lying on her tail as the sun rose. A cold breeze swept over the camp and flooded into the den immediately making her shiver and feel wide awake.

She blinked the sleep from her eyes and pulled her tail out from under her brother, the infection having healed nicely. She padded out of the den and over to the fresh-kill pile in the center of the camp silently. She grabbed one of the plump mice that she and her brother had caught the day before.

"Can we share?"

Silverpaw turned her head and watched as Lostpaw trotted up behind her. He looked like he was mourning their dead friendship and regretted everything he had said to her.

"Sure," she meowed before she settled down and took a bite of the mouse. She sighed and nudged it towards him shyly.

"I'm sorry for what I said." Lostpaw began. "I think that if it had been switched around and your brother was in DarkClan I would have done the same thing. I wouldn't want to lose you either, so I've decided that I will never leave TreeClan no matter where my brother or mother's loyalties may lie."

The well-muscled black tom bent his head down and took a few big bites of the plump mouse before he nudged it back to Silverpaw.

Silverpaw looked Lostpaw in the eyes and noticed a hint of affection. She looked away quickly and polished off the rest of her mouse. She thanked StarClan for the good meal before she buried it the best she could into the hard and cold ground. She stretched her paws out in front of her, her back slightly arching.

"I accept your apology." Silverpaw meowed and looked Lostpaw in his eyes once again. She noticed that the look of affection was warmer this time and that there was a look of relief as well.

She remembered her and Lostpaw's past together and realized that the look had always been there, but she had never noticed it until then. She wondered what the look meant. She knew she had seen it before in another cat's eyes other than Lostpaw's.

"Silverpaw," Hawktalon meowed with a certain sternness as he approached them. "Can you join me and Smokecloud on the dawn patrol?" He then glanced at Lostpaw and meowed, "Sandstripe is going to take you and Bravepaw hunting."

Silverpaw dipped her head goodbye to Lostpaw and then to Hawktalon before she got up and darted off towards the camp entrance. The sandy coloured tabby Sandstripe and her brother were waiting there probably for Lostpaw. She looked at Hawktalon with excitement as he came up behind her.

"Are we going to go to the barn?"

Hawktalon purred and meowed, "You should probably wait for your tail to completely heal before you go and get it yanked on by a dog again." He glanced over towards the center of camp and continued, "Besides, the Clan doesn't need a bunch of plump mice all the time. Eventually the snow is going to cover everything and it'll be much too cold to travel the distance. We will just have to get used to the small amount of fresh-kill."

Silverpaw nodded knowing that he was probably right. She moved over to Smokecloud who was waiting for them quietly. The calm and beautiful she-cat looked tired from the vigil she and Sandstripe had to sit but she still had some excitement in her dark green eyes.

Hawktalon led them out of camp and into the forest at an even pace.

They headed towards a small clearing where squirrels and mice used to shuffle about before leaf-fall had arrived.

Silverpaw lifted her head and parted her jaws to taste the air and scent a squirrel. She heard a rustling in the bushes and twisted her head around, narrowing her eyes as she saw the squirrel caught in the bush.

Smokecloud peered over towards her and whispered, "Be careful, you don't want to get caught too."

Silverpaw nodded, crouched down, and stalked towards the squirrel that was too busy trying to find a way out of the bush to notice her. She pounced and used all of the force she could to bat at the squirrel with her forepaw through the branches, stunning it for a heartbeat.

She leapt up and twisted around to land on top of the mouse. She crushed the bush as well as killed the mouse. She pushed her muzzle through the branches and bit into its warm yet bony neck, adrenaline pulsing through her veins.

"Nice one." Hawktalon praised her before he padded over and examined the kill. "It'll feed a cat or two." He then helped Silverpaw and her squirrel out from the bush.

Silverpaw watched her mentor as he tasted the air and padded away in search of prey. She looked over at Smokecloud who was also watching Hawktalon and noticed that she had the same amount of affection in her eyes that Lostpaw had had in his eyes earlier when they had been talking.

"You alright?" Silverpaw trotted over and asked.

Smokecloud narrowed her eyes at Silverpaw and folded her ears back against her head obviously feeling too awkward to respond.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me anything." Silverpaw purred trying to make the situation less awkward for her Clanmate. She turned her head to watch Hawktalon stalk something and then pounce. She purred and meowed, "He's a great fighter, a great hunter, a great mentor, and a great deputy." She glanced back up at Smokecloud who was looking at her paws with a slight nod her head.

"He is pretty great."

Silverpaw said nothing when Hawktalon padded back over with a limp, scrawny mouse in his jaws. He dropped it beside the squirrel Silverpaw had caught.

She looked at the small mouse and sighed knowing it could only feed a small kit. She then turned to Hawktalon and forced a 'good job' kind of look on her face.

Hawktalon stretched and looked up at the sky, the sun now at its highest. He glanced back at Smokecloud and meowed, "Did you catch anything?" Smokecloud seemed disappointed with herself as she looked down at her paws. "I couldn't catch any scents."

The deputy instead of getting angry at her like some other cats might've, he looked at her and meowed, "It's alright Smokecloud. There isn't much prey left in the forest anyway."

Silverpaw let out a purr of delight. Hawktalon was so polite. "Can we go back to camp now?" she asked. "My paws are going to freeze off!" She then picked up her squirrel and darted off towards camp, running into Bravepaw on the way there.

Bravepaw looked back at Lostpaw and Sandstripe who were talking about the lack of prey and danger in the territory. He narrowed his eyes back at her and meowed, "Way to go clumsy. What's the rush back to camp anyway?" He eyed the squirrel in her jaws and meowed, "_You _caught that?"

Silverpaw meowed, "My paws are cold." She then narrowed her eyes in anger at Bravepaw before growling, "Yes I caught it!" She padded into camp angered at the fact that her brother had asked such a mouse-brained question.

Lostpaw approached Silverpaw with worried eyes once his patrol had returned later on. "What happened back there Silverpaw? Did Bravepaw say something to you?"

Silverpaw narrowed her eyes at Lostpaw and meowed, "It's nothing that concerns you so just leave me to fight my own battles Lostpaw." She headed towards the apprentices' den and realized she was punishing him for what her brother had said. She immediately turned around to apologize only to see Lostpaw standing right in front of her with wide eyes, probably afraid that she was about to shout at him for following her.

"Lostpaw…"

Lostpaw pressed his ears against his head and meowed, "I know you don't want to talk about Bravepaw, but maybe you want to talk about your patrol?" He sat down, his icy cold blue eyes gazing at her affectionately again. Silverpaw looked around uncomfortably.

"Um sure." She looked around before she walked to the back of the apprentices' den and lied down in her nest.

Lostpaw lied down beside her and began going on and on about how Sandstripe had chased off a StreamClan apprentice who had been on TreeClan's side of the river. The entire time though, all she could think about was his icy cold affectionate gaze. She wanted to figure out what it meant.

Silverpaw rested her head on her paws and kept listening to him go on and on about his patrol until he finally he asked her, "Anything exciting happen on your outing?"

She sat up and meowed, "Well I caught a squirrel that was caught in the bushes." She remembered what her brother had said earlier and growled slightly before continuing, "Hawktalon caught a mouse and Smokecloud and I just chatted most of the time. It was probably anything but exciting." She lied back down and pricked her ears, looking over her shoulder when she heard movement by the den entrance.

"Hello Bravepaw." Lostpaw meowed, anger burning softly in his icy cold blue eyes. "Can we help you?"

Bravepaw shook his head and meowed, "Cut the act you piece of crowfood." He gave Silverpaw an apologetic glance for a heartbeat before he turned to Lostpaw with a growl. "What are you two doing anyway?"

Silverpaw stood up, not seeing his apologetic glance, and meowed, "We are talking about our day. Now answer _my_ question and tell me why you're here Bravepaw!"

Bravepaw growled and lashed his tail from side to side. Silverpaw guessed it was because she was sticking up for herself and for Lostpaw once again.

"Don't you have things to do?" Bravepaw snapped rudely. "Like feed Doveflight and Rootpath or something?"

Silverpaw growled and wondered why her brother was suddenly acting like such a stern warrior. "Why don't you do it?" she snapped.

Lostpaw pressed his head against her side reassuringly. She gave him a confused glare. The black tom stood up, ignoring her questioningly look, and glared at Bravepaw.

"I'll do it," he snarled. He left, shoving his way past Bravepaw growling loudly.

"What is up with you?" Silverpaw yowled softly before she stood up both angry and annoyed at her brother's attitude. "You do realize you aren't the leader, or deputy, or even a warrior right? You can't just come in here and expect us to bow down to you!" She turned her back on him and kneaded the moss underneath her paws angrily, pretending she was clawing at her brother's eyes.

"I need to talk to you and in order to do so I had to get him out of here. I knew he would do anything to keep you from getting upset." Bravepaw meowed. He padded over to Silverpaw and licked her cheek gently, immediately beginning his apology.

"About the squirrel thing earlier, I'm sorry. I just forget sometimes that we are older now and that we aren't the little kits we used to be. I'm scared that we will become warriors sooner than later and that we won't be as close as we used to be."

Silverpaw rolled her eyes and purred with a bit of amusement. "We will _never _be as close as we used to be. Not if you keep doing what you're doing. Cut out the attitude and accept that Lostpaw's my friend, and then things might change." She nudged her brother's shoulder with her muzzle and let out a sigh. "Want to practice some fighting techniques?"

Bravepaw instead of simply nodding his head, leapt and pinned her playfully down to the ground. He batted his paws at her belly just as he had used to when they were kits.

Silverpaw let out an _mrrow _of laughter and kicked her legs upward, shoving Bravepaw off before she leapt and clung to his back. She bit into his ear and pulled backward like she used to when she was a kit, only a little more gently since they were a lot stronger now.

Bravepaw dropped to the ground and rolled over, forcing Silverpaw to loosen her grip and lie there on the ground. But instead of getting up, she lied there limply on the cold hard ground.


	11. Chapter 10

Lostpaw padded in with pricked ears and meowed, "What's going on?" He raced towards Bravepaw and pounced onto his back, raking his claws along the side of his neck. Bravepaw caterwauled angrily and twisted his head around before he sunk his teeth into Lostpaw's throat.

Silverpaw leapt to her paws at the disturbing noises of yowling and snarling. "Stop!" she pleaded. She stood there, panting with fear. She watched her brother and Lostpaw roll around over the moss as they bit, hissed and clawed at each other.

"Stop!" she pleaded again but they wouldn't separate from their ball of fury. She watched Lostpaw pin Bravepaw down. The large lean black tom went to bite at his neck.

"Stop!" She yowled once more before she leapt and shoved Lostpaw down against the ground herself.

Lostpaw looked up at Silverpaw with angry narrowed eyes and clawed at her face with a hiss. When he realized what he had done he shoved her off of him and backed away with his ears against his head, his tail between his legs.

"Go!" Silverpaw screeched furiously in his face. She winced as she moved her jaw where Lostpaw had clawed her and turned her head to see Bravepaw staring at Lostpaw. He was snarling angrily, his claws still unsheathed from their quarrel.

Silverpaw spat at him, gesturing for him to calm himself down before she left the den, rushing over to Doveflight who was relaxing in the sun the best she could. She blinked a couple of times to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Can you do something about these claw marks on my face? They burn more than wet grass in the sun!" Silverpaw complained, her tail lashing. She was still furious and irritated. She held her yawn that was trying to creep out of her jaws knowing that parting her jaws would only cause pain to ripple through her.

Doveflight leapt to her paws and mewed, "What happened?" She ran into the medicine cat den and then back out with some cobwebs. She gently placed them on Silverpaw's jaw silently, listening to her as she explained.

"Bravepaw and I were play fighting like we used to and I played dead, my classic move. Lostpaw came in and lost it on Bravepaw. They started to fight and…" Emotions began to overwhelm her and she closed her eyes as she lowered her head.

"I had to pull them apart-" She swallowed. "-before Lostpaw could've seriously hurt Bravepaw and when I pinned Lostpaw, he did this to me…" Silverpaw bit her tongue, holding back a yowl of anger, pain, and frustration.

Doveflight shook her head disappointedly and murmured, "Helping Bravepaw was a smart thing to do. Lostpaw I don't think understands what friendship really is and your brother is just being a tom cat." Doveflight pressed herself against Silverpaw and continued, "They'll learn when they are older once they get into trouble because of their actions."

The beautiful young she-cat shook out her brown and grey pelt before she walked away over to a pile of herbs, flicking her tail as a way of saying goodbye.

Silverpaw watched Doveflight carefully and peered at her belly. She wasn't able to tell that she was expecting kits but she knew that only time would really tell. She sighed and padded out of the medicine cat den quietly before she headed towards the apprentices' den.

Silverpaw woke up when the sun rose once again. She stood up, shook the moss from her pelt, blinked the sleep from her eyes and yawned, her jaw still stiff from the scratches Lostpaw had given to her.

She looked around the den to see Bravepaw and Lostpaw sleeping in their nests in the back of the den and waited a few moments to see if they would wake up.

When they didn't move a claw, she padded straight out of the apprentices' den and into the clearing almost immediately slipping and falling on her side.

"You might want to be more careful when walking on ice." Hawktalon meowed, practically skidding over on his paws. "Leaf-fall is ending and within the next couple of moons snow will start to fall. Prey has probably already started to hide in their burrows which means we won't be eating well for a while."

Silverpaw got up carefully and nodded. "Are we going to be doing some training today?"

Hawktalon bent his head down and licked his chest fur a couple of times before meowing, "I'm going to teach you the rest of the techniques that you haven't learned. Then we will practice the ones you have." He stretched and looked around camp.

Camp was rather silent and Silverpaw wondered if the other cats had already gone out or were trying to stay as warm as they could in their dens.

"Why don't you grab something to eat, if there is anything in the fresh-kill pile, and meet me in the camp entrance?" Hawktalon suggested before he stumbled away quickly, nearly slipping and falling on a patch of cold ice.

Silverpaw bent her forelegs and swung her tail into the air in a stretching motion to loosen the stiffness in her back. Ever since the forest had started to grow cold her joints were stiff and achy. She proceeded over to the fresh-kill pile and picked from what was left, a small sparrow.

She used her teeth to strip away the feathers before she bit into the flesh of the dead bird. She could taste mostly cold gristle and had to tear it apart even more just to find some edible meat.

When she had finished eating, the bird looked like it had been torn apart by a dog. She buried it with a shiver as she remembered sharp canine teeth snapping at her tail.

"You look disappointed with that sparrow." Lostpaw muttered as he trotted over to her. Silverpaw could hear the remorse in his voice but she didn't dare to look at him. She shuffled along the icy patches on the ground over to Hawktalon who was talking to Doveflight by the camp entrance.

Silverpaw greeted Doveflight with a warning glance before she looked up at Hawktalon and pressing her ears against her head.

"Can we go now?" she asked before looking around at the icy patches that surrounded her. "I hope the training clearing has no ice…"

Hawktalon was too busy looking at Doveflight with mixtures of excitement, fear, and grief in his eyes to respond. Silverpaw shook her head gently. The tom was probably excited that he was going to have kits, afraid that the kits would never know their father, and that Hawktalon would never be allowed to tell them.

Doveflight studied Hawktalon with her eyes and meowed, "Um, your apprentice?" She rolled her eyes and padded away in silence, her tail flicking back and forth contently.

Silverpaw purred when Hawktalon looked at her. She had been staring at him intensely to try to get his attention.

"Hello?" Silverpaw purred before she nudged Hawktalon's shoulder. "Let's go."

They headed towards the training clearing, slipping on ice occasionally along the way. Silverpaw leapt over stumps and avoided low branches. One time she had leapt over a large rock and slipped when she landed on her front paws. She had twisted around in the air until she had landed on her back with a thud. Hawktalon had just watched her, _mrrow_ing in laughter.

After a few moments they reached the training clearing. Silverpaw sat and groomed her pelt to try and remove the cold water that clung to it which had melted from the ice onto her because of her warmth.

The sound of claws scratching across the ground compelled Silverpaw to prick her ears and look up. She watched Hawktalon as he raced towards her. He turned on his side and slid underneath her, batting at her belly with sheathed claws and a large amount of force. She whipped her head around to see Hawktalon now standing and panting heavily on her other side.

Silverpaw gasped for air suddenly. Hawktalon had knocked the wind out of her.

"That looks hard." She murmured and looked up at the tree tops, side glancing back at Hawktalon every once and a while.

Once Hawktalon looked up in the direction she had been looking, Silverpaw twisted and slid underneath Hawktalon's belly. She batted forcefully at his stomach with sheathed claws just as he had before. She leapt to her paws as she slid out from under him and pounced at him again, gripping his sides as best as she could without unsheathed claws. She grabbed his scruff in her jaws and shook her head gently to let her mentor know that she understood the concept.

Hawktalon shook himself and rolled across the ground forcing her to release her grip. She stared him in his eyes silently. They both stood still for a moment panting heavily, probably planning their next move. Hawktalon leapt and pinned Silverpaw back against the ground. He began to rake at her belly with his hind legs, claws remaining sheathed.

Silverpaw kicked upwards using her hind legs and managed to loosen Hawktalon's grip long enough so she could slither out from under him. She twisted her front half around and batted her paw across his face. She reared up on her hind legs and came down on top of him with all her force. She then settled herself down and lied beside him, panting heavier than she had ever panted before.

Hawktalon gazed at Silverpaw. Admiration glowed in his brown eyes. "You learned even faster than I did when I was an apprentice, and trust me I was a faster learner!" He gave her a playful look before he groomed his chest fur. Silverpaw had noticed that he did that a lot lately.

Silverpaw purred merrily, glad that her mentor was pleased with her training so far. She groomed down her own ruffled fur before meowing, "Are we done with fighting techniques now?"

Hawktalon looked at Silverpaw and meowed, "We will do the revisions every quarter-moon or so but I think in between we can just focus on hunting and doing patrols. You know, normal duties." He stood up with a yawn and meowed, "Let's get back to camp and see what needs to be done."

Silverpaw wanted to stop doing duties for a moment to just talk to Hawktalon about Doveflight for a while but instead she nodded quietly and stood up. She had forgotten there was a patch of ice under her and slipped, crashing into Hawktalon. The two of them both tumbled across the training clearing. They both sat up and _mrrow_ed with amusement, Silverpaw lying on top of Hawktalon. They stood up returned to camp as fast as they could with all the ice.

When they walked into camp Silverpaw noticed that Lostpaw was by the fresh-kill pile staring gloomily at his piece of fresh-kill. Her paws itched to go over and talk to him but then she remembered that she was supposed to be mad at him and that was why he was so down. She turned her head to see Hawktalon sitting by the camp entrance looking around hopefully.

"What are you doing?" She asked him as she cautiously slid her paws over the ice towards him. She watched him turn his head to look at her, a large raspy purr coming up from pit of his throat.

"I'm going to be a father," he announced, even though she already knew. She nodded and meowed, "I know."

Hawktalon sunk his claws into the ground almost looking angry and panicked that some other cat had told her. "Who told you and what do you know?"

Silverpaw purred, amused with his reaction, and sat down beside him. She pressed against him to reassure him.

"Doveflight told me," she whispered. "She told me she's having your kits and that she is going to keep them a secret. Do you know if she has a plan?" She glanced back over towards the fresh-kill pile and noticed Lostpaw gazing over at her with dull icy blue eyes. She let out a soft growl but stopped herself before Hawktalon could notice.

Hawktalon looked at his paws in sorrow and murmured, "She told me that once she comes close to kitting she will leave camp and go somewhere safe." He seemed to now stare up at the sky fearfully. "She said that she would figure out her story or her excuse on her return to camp."

Silverpaw nuzzled Hawktalon's shoulder to try and comfort him. She wanted him know that he didn't have to be too worried about Doveflight. She then stood up and meowed, "The dusk patrol, can I go?"

She began to beam happily when her mentor nodded his head silently before she darted off carefully across camp towards the medicine cat den to check up on Doveflight.

She entered the den and noticed that the medicine cat apprentice was sniffing at the different herbs and looking around completely dumbfounded. She interrupted her activities when she meowed, "Is everything alright?"

Doveflight looked up and purred when she saw Silverpaw. "I swear I had gotten some more marigold earlier but it seems I misrecognized it for dandelion. Rootpath will not be happy, she needs it to help Smokecloud with her stiff joints. The cold seems to be having a harsh effect on all of us now that green-leaf has ended. I'm afraid to see what will leaf-bare will be like."

Silverpaw nodded. "I could go get some marigold for you. They are those yellow flowers with yellow petals that I've seen down by the river right?"

Doveflight nodded and nosed a large beech leaf towards her. "You'll need this to carry them. Grab as many as you can because I have a feeling everyone will be having stiff joints sooner or later." She then turned her back to Silverpaw and continued to busily make different concoctions of herbs.

Silverpaw grabbed the beech leaf, not bringing up her own constant joint pain. She left camp and headed towards the river, careful not to slip on any more ice.

She reached the river that separated TreeClan and StreamClan and she looked around. She saw a patch of yellow flowers that she guessed to be marigold and laid the beech leaf on the ground before she plucked the flowers from the ground, carefully using her front teeth. She placed them onto the beech leaf before she gripped the two ends together with her front teeth so the leaf was in a loop like position holding the marigolds between the two sides.

Silverpaw turned to head back to camp when she heard a loud wail followed by a splash. She dropped the marigolds and spun around with wide eyes to see a fiery red tabby she-cat splashing around frantically in the river gasping for air as she poked her muzzle above the surface. She immediately jumped into the river and swam towards the she-cat, her heart racing as the freezing cold water shocked her body.

She spat in disgust when the water splashed and hit the roof of her mouth. She didn't hate water, but she didn't like it either.

"Help me! Help me please!" The red tabby she-cat managed to cry before she fell below the surface and went limp. Silverpaw dove after her and managed to grab her scruff before she swam as fast as she could towards shore, the current pushing into her. She dragged the unknown she-cat to TreeClan's side of the river and set her down.

The red tabby she-cat lay still. Silverpaw let out a soft growled before she rasped her tongue over the she-cat's side to keep her breathing and to warm her.

"Come on, breathe." Silverpaw growled louder out of frustration as she pushed her forepaws into the tabby's side. Eventually she spat up the water that was in her lungs and opened her eyes, breathing weakly.

"Who are you?" The red tabby she-cat asked while looking up at Silverpaw with irritated eyes. "Do you know Bravestar?"

Silverpaw remembered her former leader who had died around five moons ago. She tried her best to hide the grief from her voice as she meowed, "I'm Silverpaw, I knew Bravestar when he was the leader of my Clan." She looked around and heard nothing but the rushing of the river's current.

The she-cat narrowed her eyes at Silverpaw and meowed, "When he _was_ the leader? Did he go somewhere?" Her eyes seemed to cloud over in sorrow after a heart, starting to understand what Silverpaw had said.

"I'm Fox, Bravestar's daughter."

Silverpaw looked at Fox bewildered wondering if Bravestar could actually have a daughter, kin. She drew in a sharp breath.

"I never knew Bravestar had kits." Silverpaw murmured before she looked across the river to make sure no StreamClan cat was there. She helped Fox up and let her lean against her shoulder.

"We can talk more at camp but you're soaked and will get green-cough if you don't warm up and get checked out by Rootpath."

The red tabby she-cat looked at Silverpaw slightly confused before she just nodded and let Silverpaw lead her back to camp.

Once they arrived Silverpaw could feel a few gazes turn to stare at her and the strange cat but she ignored them and helped Fox to Rootpath's den.

Rootpath ran over immediately seeing the soaked cat. "Who is this Silverpaw and why is she completely soaked?! She'll fall seriously ill if we don't do something right now!"

Silverpaw watched as Rootpath turned and scurried through her pile of herbs for a moment before she explained to her that the she-cat had fallen into the river.

"She says her name is Fox and that she's Bravestar's daughter…" She noticed Rootpath's ears twist back in interest before she turned and gave Fox a mixture of daisy and chamomile.

"Would you care to explain Fox?" The medicine cat looked Fox in the eyes, obviously taking the new information very seriously.

Fox stared at the chewed up mixture with disgust before she quickly lapped it up and lied down. She stared back at Rootpath and meowed, "Bravestar visited my mother every couple of moons or so by twoleg place. She was a loner who fought the cats who lived around the upwalkers. One day she found out she was going to have his kits. The last time he ever visited us we when me and my brothers were a couple of moons old."

"Where are your brothers now?" Rootpath asked.

"My brothers are long gone. They were killed by a couple of loners because they were stubborn and thought nothing could defeat them."

"And your mother?"

"She was caught by an upwalker and I haven't seen her since."

Silverpaw listened attentively as Bravestar's only live kin spoke. She wondered how Fox had found the territory and how Bravestar could have managed to keep such a secret from the Clan. She wanted to ask Fox more questions but Rootpath cut her off.

"Well you can probably stay permanently, if Swiftstar requests it. Until then though you are a loner who wandered into the forest and fell into the river. We don't need the rest of the Clan questioning Bravestar's loyalty after he has already gone off to StarClan and can't fight his own battles anymore."

Silverpaw nodded, knowing that what Rootpath was saying made sense. She looked at Fox and meowed, "Groom your fur and I'll go fetch Swiftstar." She then padded to the den entrance where she bumped into the curious Hawktalon and Swiftstar.

"Sandstripe told me she saw a strange cat come into camp with you Silverpaw." Hawktalon meowed as he glanced over her and at Fox who was staring back at Hawktalon and Swiftstar. Her fur prickled out of fear.

Silverpaw went to explain but was relieved when Rootpath came over and told them that she had found Fox by the river drowning and that she was just a harmless loner that had wandered into the forest.

Silverpaw trotted past them and into the clearing. She lied in the sun on a rock where no ice was present and groomed her fur which was beginning to freeze over, due to the cold water on her pelt from the river.

"You look like you fell into a river." Lostpaw meowed as he padded over quietly. "Are you alright?"

Silverpaw lifted her head to look Lostpaw in his icy cold eyes and snapped, "I'm fine." She looked away and murmured, "Leave me alone." She shifted herself around so her back was facing him. She still wanted nothing to do with him after he had fought with her brother. She knew inside that she was ready to forgive her brother but she wasn't ready to forgive Lostpaw. He had let his anger control him and had clawed her in the face! She wasn't so sure she ever wanted to forgive him.

"Look, I'm sorry Silverpaw. I was angry and out of control because I thought he had killed you! I was scared I lost you!"


	12. Chapter 11

Silverpaw turned her head and noticed a sense of distress coming off of him. She now understood that Lostpaw cared about her as much as Doveflight cared for Hawktalon or as much as Bravestar had cared for Fox's mother.

She desperately wanted to forgive him but at the same time she didn't. She just stood up and padded towards the apprentices' den, the sky turning a blood orange as the sun set.

Silverpaw woke up with a start as she felt a really strong and cold breeze brush through her fur. A moon had passed since she had started ignoring Lostpaw for good and she successfully still was.

Fox had officially joined TreeClan and learned their ways quickly, taking on the name Foxtail. After about a quarter-moon Silverpaw could tell that Foxtail was exactly like he father, brave and intelligent.

Silverpaw had forgiven her brother not long after Lostpaw had attempted to repair their friendship and they had gotten closer once again. It was a relief to be able to share tongues with her brother and train with him again.

Doveflight's secret still remained a secret from the Clan and ever since Doveflight had announced it to Hawktalon she had been trying her best to avoid and separate from the tom.

"Silverpaw, are you up?" Bravepaw meowed as he prodded at her side with his large paw. His broad shoulders and rippling muscles underneath his thick brown tabby fur made him look like an older warrior, a warrior who had been a warrior for probably many moons.

"Yes," Silverpaw moaned before she sat up and blinked the sleep from her eyes. Her joints were stiff from the cold as usual but this time it was pure agony.

"What do you want?" she snapped, the pain making her frustrated.

Bravepaw narrowed his eyes at her and meowed, "Hawktalon wanted me to tell you that he has some things to do around camp. He wants you to go out hunting. He said Lostpaw and I should come with you but I think you should see Rootpath first." He licked her shoulder gently and whispered, "I can tell you're in pain."

Silverpaw sighed and meowed, "Alright." She didn't like the idea that she would have to go hunting with her brother and Lostpaw together but she knew it had to be done.

"Meet me by the camp entrance…" she told him. She then padded out of the apprentices' den and into the clearing which was now covered in fluffy white snow.

It had fallen the night before while most were asleep in their dens. Silverpaw had been up wondering about how the Clan would survive leaf-bare without a decent meal or warmth all season. Now it seemed absolutely impossible. As beautiful as the snow and leaf-bare looked, she wished it would just disappear.

Silverpaw lifted her paws high to make it through the snow as she made her way over to the medicine cat den. The long movements caused her to cringe in pain.

She brushed her way through the entrance into the den where she found Rootpath examining Sandstripe quietly. She looked up at Silverpaw and meowed, "Hello Silverpaw, I was just checking up on Sandstripe."

The sandy coloured she-cat sneezed before she left the den.

"She was complaining that her throat was bugging her but luckily it was just a little cold."

Silverpaw dipped her head to Sandstripe as she left the den. She looked at Rootpath and meowed, "My joints have been really stiff and bothering me for about a moon and a half now. It's really starting to hurt and I don't think I can tolerate it much longer."

Rootpath looked at Silverpaw with a shocked growl. "You should've told me when it started then it wouldn't be so bad!" Rootpath shook her head in sorts of disappointment.

"It probably won't stop until new-leaf _now _but you should be able to hopefully deal with it until then." She nudged some marigold towards her and gave her a kind look before she turned and vanished into the shadows in the back of the den.

Silverpaw chewed up the marigold leaves after she had plucked them off using her teeth. She then kicked as much dirt as she could over the remains after she spit them out in silence. She walked out into the clearing once again, the sunlight reflecting off of the snow making it seem blindingly bright outside. The snow sparkled.

She trotted towards the camp entrance where Lostpaw and Bravepaw waited, sitting far away from each other awkwardly. Silverpaw tried not to growl at Lostpaw as she saw his face.

Lostpaw swung his large head upwards to look at her. His hope-filled eyes gazed at her but Silverpaw didn't return the gaze. She just brushed past him and Bravepaw and walked quickly out of camp.

As they walked further away from camp she parted her jaws to taste the air. For a heartbeat she caught the scent of a mouse but then it went away as if it had never existed.

"There's nothing out here!" Bravepaw yowled loudly before he bat at the snow angrily on top of what used to be a rabbit's burrow. His tail lashed back and forth and his ears were folded back as he snarled. "Come out you little mouse-brains!"

Silverpaw purred with amusement before sniffing the burrow and meowing, "Hasn't been anything in here for a while Bravepaw. You're practically talking to the air." She then tilted her head back and breathed in the air, smelling a robin. She looked around at the tree branches above her with narrowed eyes, hoping that there would be something to take back to the rest of the Clan.

Silverpaw gasped when she spotted a robin on one of the lower branches above her. She leapt up at the trunk and clawed her way up, remaining silent. She sat in the corner right where the branch and trunk met.

Lostpaw looked up at her and hissed, "What are you doing?"

Silverpaw growled and ignored him before she bent her legs and prepared to pounce. She knew that if she missed the landing or even lost any balance that she would not only scare away the bird but probably whatever prey there was left in the territory. It was also possible that she would probably seriously injure herself.

She took a deep breath and pounced at the bird, holding her tail and paws out accordingly in order to keep her balance. She managed to grab the bird by the neck and choke it to death while landing safely on the end of the branch. She turned around to climb back down the tree when she realized she didn't really know how. She looked down in panic at Bravepaw and let the bird drop to the ground below her into the snow when she heard a sudden cracking noise.

Within the next few heartbeats, she could feel the branch break away from under her. She flailed her paws around and tried to grip another branches with her claws in terror but wasn't able to. She closed her eyes, ready to hit the cold hard ground but instead she felt herself land on something slightly softer and warmer but not much more comfortable.

Bravepaw stared at her in astonishment. Silverpaw wondered why before she stood up and realized that she was unharmed. She looked underneath her to see Lostpaw lying in the snow, weak and shaking in pain. He held his paws close to his belly and looked crippled.

Silverpaw gasped and grabbed his scruff before she forced him to his paws. She licked the snow that stuck to his muzzle and noticed that he was lifting one of his forepaws up.

"Why did you do that?" Silverpaw snapped worriedly before she calmed herself down and finally realized that maybe he really was sorry for what he had done.

"Thank you but now you are hurt…" she whispered.

Lostpaw nodded gently and meowed, "I'll get back to camp…" He kept his forepaw up and limped in the direction of camp, Silverpaw watching him until she couldn't see him anymore.

She turned to Bravepaw who still looked shocked and confused. She batted his muzzle with sheathed claws to snap him out of it before she padded over to her robin and picked it up in her jaws. She tried to ignore the cold snow that clung to it's now cold body. She turned to Bravepaw and watched as he tasted the air, quickly found a tiny, weak mouse sniffing around for food, and killed it.

"I think we should return to camp and check on Lostpaw." Silverpaw murmured as she dragged her cold paws through the snow and watched her brother hopelessly taste the air for prey. The sun was even higher in the sky now.

Her brother turned to her and growled. "We have to feed our Clan and all you can think about is that mouse-brain who injured himself?!"

Silverpaw pressed her ears against her head and looked at her brother, quite annoyed with how self-centered he was being at the moment, even if the Clan really did need to be fed.

"Look, I understand that you don't like him and all, I'm not going to ask you to be friends or anything, and trust me when I say that I'm still mad at him for what happened, but he is our Clanmate and a future warrior of our Clan just like us!" She looked over her shoulder where she had last seen Lostpaw and continued, "If you really care about our Clan you should more considerate! Besides, he saved my life!"

Bravepaw seemed to look away reluctantly, not wanting to listen to what she had to say.

"Aren't you hearing me? If he hadn't of done what he done, you might not have a litter-mate right now! He's a strong well-built tom and I'm slender and fragile. I could've died!"

Bravepaw narrowed his eyes at her, showing that he was infuriated with Silverpaw's ability to stand up for Lostpaw like that even after everything Lostpaw had torn up between them.

"You know what, why don't we just go back to camp? I've caught this weak useless mouse that won't feed even a really hungry bug and you've caught that robin which nearly got you seriously injured. Oh, but that's okay because Lostpaw's alive!" He then turned his back on her and dragged his paws as he walked back towards camp.

Silverpaw watched Bravepaw lash out at her with a growl before she darted past him and back to camp worried about Lostpaw. She hoped that his paw wasn't broken and that it was just sprained. She hoped that within a quarter a moon or so he would be able to continue training like her and Bravepaw.

When she entered camp she padded straight over to the fresh-kill pile to drop her robin off before she raced over to Rootpath's den where she could hear painful yowling.

"Stop, it hurts!" Lostpaw yowled as she walked in. She watched Doveflight as she pinned him down forcefully and then watched Rootpath as she wrapped something around a stick and his leg. The strange tabby she-cat looked deeply concentrated.

"Is everything okay?" Silverpaw mumbled as she padded closer to them, scared of that Lostpaw would lash out in pain and claw at the cats around him. "Is it broken?"

Doveflight and Rootpath leapt away from the agitated Lostpaw before he sat up and hissed at them in pain. He stared down at his forepaw which had a stick against it, wrapped in bindweed that was used for binding things together.

He looked up at her with longing in his icy cold blue eyes which were also clouded over with pain. "It's broken."

Doveflight glanced over at Silverpaw and meowed, "He was very brave to do what he did because if he hadn't you would probably be the one here with four broken paws!" She then glanced back over at Lostpaw, the toms ears flattened against his head in embarrassment.

_Or worse… _Silverpaw told herself.

"His leg should be healed within a few moons or so, if he keeps weight off of it and just relaxes. If he attempts to hunt, fight, or train in any way he might make it worse and it won't heal properly. Can you make sure he doesn't make it any worse Silverpaw?"

Silverpaw glanced over at Lostpaw and sighed. She was still angry at him for what he had done over a moon ago but at the same time she cared about him more than any other cat. She wanted to make sure his leg would heal properly and that he would become a good warrior just as he deserved.

She nodded to Doveflight before she moved closer to Lostpaw and let him lean against her. She then led him to the apprentices' den, snow starting to fall again. It clung to her light tabby fur.

"Why are you doing this?" Lostpaw asked softly. Silverpaw looked at him, with a confused look. She thought he wanted her to forgive him and now that she had he was questioning it. She thought perhaps it was because he had been forgiven before and he wasn't confident that he wouldn't hurt her again.

"I want to make sure your leg heals properly Lostpaw because you are still my Clanmate, regardless of what trouble you and my brother get into." Silverpaw half lied, knowing that some of the truth was because she really cared about him probably the same way he cared about her when he stared at her with care and affection.

She helped him settle down in his nest and made sure he had plenty of warm moss. She then lied beside him and groomed the melting snowflakes from his pelt.

As a gust of cold wind brushed over the camp sending shivers up her spine she pressed against Lostpaw and laid her head down on her forepaws. She yawned and quickly dozed off heartbeats later beside him.

Silverpaw felt some cat nudging her shoulder gently and pricked her ears as she opened one eye. She saw Lostpaw staring at her, purring gently before whispering, "Hawktalon was just calling for you."

Silverpaw jumped to her paws cautiously making sure that she didn't step on his broken paw. _I shouldn't have fallen asleep!_ She dipped her head goodbye to him before she raced out into the snow covered clearing. She noticed the sun was starting to set even though it was still pretty early.

"I'm over here." Hawktalon meowed as he came up from behind her. Silverpaw leapt around to face her mentor and meowed, "Lostpaw said you were calling me, is something wrong?" She stared at him with confusion when he replied with, "No, your assessment went pretty well."

Silverpaw looked around camp silently wondering if she was being tricked or something. When she saw no cats snickering she looked back at Hawktalon with a questioning look. "My _what_?"

Hawktalon sat down in the snow and flicked his tail calmly from side to side. "I sent the three of you out hunting together to assess your hunting skills to, you know, check up on your learning."

The pale yellow tom looked back towards the apprentices' den and meowed, "Lostpaw seemed to be doing pretty well even though he didn't catch anything, you were quick and swift enough to catch that robin even though the branch broke and… well…"

He cleared his throat and continued, "And Bravepaw was quick to find that mouse and hunt it. You all seem to be learning really well, and are a strong group of hunters I must say."

Silverpaw looked at Hawktalon and lifted her head proudly. "Thank you Hawktalon, I try my best." She then noticed Hawktalon looking at her with worried eyes. "What?"

Hawktalon looked down at his paws and then back up at her, his expression remaining.

"After Lostpaw saved you from harm I noticed you sticking up for him and I noticed a look in your eyes," he meowed with a sigh. "It's alright to let Lostpaw in, but don't completely shut your brother out alright? One day you'll need each other. You won't be around forever the both of you."

Silverpaw looked away not wanting to think about how frustrated she was with her brother again at the moment. She wasn't completely shutting him out but she wanted him to know that she could deal with her own problems and could do what she wanted.

"I know what I'm doing Hawktalon," she replied. She grew frustrated at herself because no matter what she did, things always seemed to get worse somehow.

Hawktalon looked towards the medicine cat den and meowed, "That's what I said…" He sighed and then padded off. Silverpaw watched him understanding that he must feel torn up because his kits couldn't really be his own without the Clan asking who the mother was which would only result in a big argument over loyalty within the Clan. She trotted back to the apprentices' den to get a full rest before the sun rose.

Silverpaw woke up in the apprentices' den as usual with a wide yawn and tired eyes. She looked around and noticed that Lostpaw was still sleeping but Bravepaw, by the faint smell in his nest, had clearly been gone a while. She stood up and padded over to Lostpaw who still had the stick and bindweed attached to his leg. She nudged him and woke him quietly before she whispered, "Do you want something to eat, if there is anything?"

Lostpaw sneezed and shook his head before looking down at his paw. It had only been healing for about a moon and it would still be a couple of moons before he could even think about leaping after a mouse.

Silverpaw listened as he sighed and nodded. He wrapped his tail tightly around himself for warmth. She felt bad for him knowing that sitting in the den unable to do anything active probably made it even harder to deal with the cold. She also knew that it probably hurt to know he was just another mouth to feed.

She rubbed her head against his to try and make him feel better before she padded into the center of camp over to the fresh-kill pile where she picked up the small mouse that was left.

"Don't you think you should let some other poor cat eat that?" Bravepaw growled as he marched over, extending his neck to grab the mouse from her.

Silverpaw backed away and growled a strict warning. "This is for Lostpaw," she told him angrily. "He needs it." She then turned her back on him and returned to the apprentices' den where Lostpaw waited for her return.

"I'm sorry it isn't much," she murmured with a heavy sigh. She flicked her ears around in pain as she heard her stomach growling. She tried her best to ignore it but it wouldn't silence itself.

Lostpaw looked at her worriedly and meowed, "We can share if you want."

Silverpaw shook her head and said, "I think I am going on the dawn patrol so we'll probably try and hunt then. Besides, you need your strength." She then went out of the apprentices' den and back into the clearing, the snow packing and sticking in between the pads of her paws making her not only extremely cold, but cringe in pain.

"Are you ready to go now Silverpaw?" Sandstripe asked, her teeth chattering and her ears pressed against her head as she walked over. Her sandy coloured tabby was thinner then hers and Silverpaw knew that she was probably freezing even more than she was.

She nodded and lifted her forepaw, rasping her tongue over it to try and melt the snow out from between the pads on her paw. She then followed Sandstripe over to the camp entrance where Hawktalon was waiting.

"Swiftstar, Smokecloud, and even Rootpath are beginning to grow ill and unless we get a good enough catch for them, it could get worse and we could lose their lives." Hawktalon announced to them patrol, his voice cracking with worry and concern. "I've decided that we should do our best to ignore the cold long distance and go to the barn."

Silverpaw glanced over at Sandstripe who was looking at Hawktalon, horror flashing in her dark grey eyes. She too remembered the day when the dogs had chased after them. She had nearly died at the jaws of a dog who had managed to catch up with her. She shivered and looked up at Hawktalon who was staring at her with a tilted head.

"Is that alright with you Silverpaw?"

Silverpaw nodded and led the way through the camp entrance. She lifted her legs up as she pushed herself through the snow that was slowly starting to become deeper as it fell gently from the sky. Her belly fur brushed against the surface of the snow sending chills through her body making her teeth chatter. She disliked leaf-bare because of how cold it was and how they barely had anything to eat making them bony and weak.

When the sun was half way up in the sky they had snuck through twoleg place and made it to the barn.

Silverpaw tasted the air for dogs, twolegs, or other cats but she couldn't scent any creature about that might be harmful to them. She flicked her tail and led her mentor and Sandstripe into the hole that allowed them to enter the barn.

"It's dark in here." Hawktalon whispered before he pressed against Silverpaw. She looked at him, her eyes soon adjusting to the dark. She could tell that the tom didn't want to get lost in the barn.

"Don't worry, there aren't many places to go and get lost in." She told him as she pricked her ears. She heard scuffling among the straw hay and crouched down, just barely spotting a plump grey mouse. She pounced and killed it with a swift bite to the neck before she checked up with Sandstripe and Hawktalon who had already caught all they could carry. She tracked down another plump mouse and killed it before she finally purred happily, knowing that the Clan would eat better today than they had in the past four moons.

Hawktalon whipped around and narrowed his eyes towards the hole that acted as the entrance to the barn when they heard a dog snarling. Silverpaw padded over to him and noticed a dog poking its muzzle through the entrance hole snarling while at the same time slobbering.

Silverpaw raced over and batted at its nose with unsheathed claws, hissing angrily. The dog yelped and whimpered before it left, a twoleg yowling outside at it.

Silverpaw poked her head out of the barn and looked around carefully before she signalled with a flick of her tail for them to follow her. She led them safely towards the forest and back to their own territory where they could safely and comfortably return to camp.

When they returned to camp Doveflight and Rootpath were sitting beside Swiftstar their eyes filled with impatience.

"StarClan have sent me a sign saying that I and a silver feather must travel to a warm place with plenty of food where a mother is to give birth to her kits." Doveflight meowed to Silverpaw and Hawktalon, Sandstripe having gone towards the warriors' den.

"I saw a pool of blood and a faint cry before the mother's eyes went cold." Doveflight meowed clearly throughout camp, the Clan looking at her with confused eyes. "I believe the silver feather is Silverpaw and that she and I must go right away, alone!"

"Doveflight, if StarClan has really sent this message to you, go. If it's urgent and important, you must." Swiftstar meowed with a kind dip of his head giving her his approval. Clearly they had spoken beforehand.

Silverpaw peered over at Doveflight and knew exactly what she was doing. She leaned over to whisper in her ear once Swiftstar, Rootpath, and Hawktalon left.

"The kits are almost due aren't they?" She then realized that Doveflight had done something terribly wrong. She had lied about a sign from StarClan! She wanted to convince her that it was a terrible idea but she knew that Doveflight wouldn't listen.

Silverpaw watched Doveflight as she looked away with a terribly ashamed look in her eyes. She sighed and the both of them left camp. She tried her hardest to understand how Doveflight must feel going through everything she was going through. She sighed, upset that she hadn't even said goodbye to Lostpaw.


	13. Chapter 12

They padded straight out of their territory and kept going until they were out of the forest, the snow making them shiver and the wind making their teeth chatter. Just as the sky began to turn a dark blue and silverpelt began to sparkle in the sky they reached the barn where they knew there would be plenty of warmth and plenty of mice to eat. They made themselves nests in the hay and lied down drowsily, dozing off quickly.

Just as Silverpaw had finally dozed off she jumped up to her paws, an ear deafening yowl causing her to grind her teeth. She looked to see Doveflight lying on her side in her nest.

"Help me Silverpaw!" Doveflight growled in pain. "Find a stick and make sure the kits are warm and can breathe when they arrive!" The medicine cat apprentice didn't even look like she was pregnant thanks to her thick brown fur.

Silverpaw nodded and dug around the piles of hay frantically, looking up every once and a while to check up on Doveflight who was kicking her paws around with unsheathed claws.

She guessed that Doveflight was in a lot of pain because her high pitched mews and yowls made her want to cry out in pain. She kept digging around with her forepaws until she found a stick and gave it to Doveflight who immediately bit down on it, nearly snapping it in half.

Silverpaw noticed that her eyes were glazed over in pain but also sadness. She wondered if Doveflight would ever be able to accept that her kits could never be her own to the Clan and that she could never be with Hawktalon.

She crouched down beside Doveflight, ready to make sure that the kits were healthy when they were born.

A few yowls later the first kit was born. He was a pale brown tom with broad shoulders and a well-muscled body just like his father. The second kit followed him shortly after, a light brown tabby she-kit with short stubby legs and large ears. Not long after a third kit was born. He was slightly bigger than his siblings and had dark brown tabby fur with long legs and a slender body.

Silverpaw rasped her tongue over the three kits' bodies to keep them warm and help them breathe on their own. She nuzzled them over to their mother where they then began to suckle.

She sat down and panted as if she had given birth to the three kits herself. She stretched her aching joints and lied down on her belly, glad she would be able to rest now.

Doveflight lied her head on her paws to relax when she yowled out again in pain. Silverpaw stared at her in shock, thinking that cats rarely had even three kits! She helped Doveflight as the fourth kit was born with blue fur and then with great surprise watched as the fifth and hopefully final kit was born. The fifth kit had short white fur with a brown tabby patch on the top of its head between her ears.

Doveflight lied on her side and groomed her now five beautiful kits with pure love and happiness. She looked up at Silverpaw with more joy then Silverpaw had ever seen in a cat's eyes as she meowed, "I knew I was going to have beautiful kits, but I never in my mind imagined myself having five! Especially since I'm supposed to be a medicine cat…"

Silverpaw watched as she looked down at them elated for a moment like the world was perfect until she must've realized that she had to give them up. Silverpaw nuzzled her to try and comfort her knowing it would be so hard for her to have such lovely miracles and then have to abandon them.

Five kits born to a medicine cat to-be. They truly had to be a blessing from StarClan.

"They will be great warriors for TreeClan… But for now until the kits are stronger and are ready to travel back to camp, we should stay here in the barn."

Doveflight looked at Silverpaw and purred as her kits started to fall asleep to the chirping of crickets somewhere from inside of the barn.

"Thank you Silverpaw, for everything," she whispered. "Hopefully within the next quarter-moon or so they will be ready to travel and won't ever learn to know I am their mother."

The medicine cat apprentice looked down at her kits again and murmured, "I hope they will accept them. They will think they are just more kittypets joining the Clan…"

Silverpaw nodded also wondering if the Clan would accept the five kits who would be known as kittypets to the Clan. She wondered if maybe the Clan would be able to ignore the negatives and keep them because the kits were still young and could be raised as warriors without a cat outside of TreeClan having to know they were supposed to be kittypets.

She lied on the opposite side of Doveflight so she wouldn't roll over top of the kits and suffocate them in her sleep. She rested her head on Doveflight's back and fell asleep to the sound of crickets, almost looking as if she was Doveflight's kit herself.

Silverpaw crouched down in a pile of hay narrowing her eyes at the mouse in front of her, ready to pounce. It would be her last kill during their stay at the barn. It had been just over a quarter-moon and the kits were now strong enough to be taken to their forest home to be raised in TreeClan.

"Silverpaw, before we get to camp I need to find some parsley to stop me from producing milk." Doveflight looked up from her kits who were nursing from her. "I can't help but wonder how they will nurse when I can't any longer though..."

Silverpaw had pounced on and killed the mouse as Doveflight spoke. She licked her jaws and carried the mouse over to Doveflight, setting it down in front of her before she crouched down in front of the mouse, tucked her paws underneath her chest, and took the first bite. She then nudged the mouse towards Doveflight.

"I remember when I went to my second gathering, and Tigerstar had brought up that Shadowspots' kits were three moons old. They are probably almost six moons old now so she must have some milk to spare. Maybe Swiftstar, if he really wants to keep the kits in TreeClan, can convince Tigerstar to hand Shadowspots over for a little while."

Doveflight narrowed her eyes at Silverpaw. "No BreezeClan cat is coming near my kits!" She then looked down at her five still healthy kits with worry and sadness probably knowing that once they got back to the forest it wouldn't matter what she wanted for them.

"To be quite honest, I can't see Tigerstar agreeing to hand over one of his queens to help TreeClan." Silverpaw admitted silently, knowing that Tigerstar probably wouldn't. But there had to be some way.

"Well, Swiftstar will figure it out. He is our leader and will do anything for the kits once he accepts them into the Clan," she meowed giving Doveflight some hope that Swiftstar would accept her kits who he would think to be kittypets.

Doveflight growled in frustration when her pale brown kit bit the tip of her tail mewling loudly. "Can we just leave already?" She then stood up and asked another question, "How will we carry them all?"

Silverpaw stretched her back and yawned not really having had a good rest the night before.

"The heaviest can ride on your back and the last four could be carried in our jaws." She nudged the kits closer to her mother who was also stretching out her stiff body.

Doveflight took the white kit and the blue kit in her jaws before she bent down and flicking her tail, signalling for Silverpaw to place the brown tabby kit on her back. Silverpaw nodded and did so before she grabbed the last two kits, the pale brown kit and the light brown-tabby kit, in her own jaws.

Silverpaw led Dovewhisper out of the barn and through twoleg place until they reached the small amount of open land that separated twoleg place from the forest. They stopped to rest with frozen paws and chattering teeth.

Silverpaw checked on the five kits and noticed that the white kit and the pale brown kit were growing weak and hungry and wondered if they would make it the other half of the trip. She rasped her tongue over their bodies as they were sat down in front of her hoping they would warm up and gain some strength.

Doveflight pricked her ears and twisted her head around with wide brown eyes when there was a snickering noise and loud crunching of snow. Silverpaw looked in the same direction as her and growled when she saw three large rats crawling towards them snickering angrily. She guessed that they were close to their winter home and that they were feeling threatened with them being there.

"Take the kits and back away slowly." Silverpaw demanded before she arched her back and hissed at the rats angrily. Silverpaw waited for Doveflight to back away enough and keep the kits underneath her belly before she leapt forward and batted her paw with unsheathed claws at the rats warning them once and only once to back away from them. The rats ignored her warning and leapt forward, biting at her with sharp yellow teeth.

Silverpaw growled in pain when one of the rats managed to grip her paw in its jaws. She used her own sharp teeth to bite down on the rat's skull before slashing at the rat's neck with her other available forepaw with unsheathed claws.

When the rat let go of her paw she noticed that it left an open wound which was heavily bleeding and stung badly. She hissed at the rats before she lunged forward and bit into one of their ears, pulling on it and tearing it.

Doveflight yowled, "Silverpaw, watch out!" but Silverpaw wasn't fast enough to look around. One of the rats snuck around up from behind her and leapt onto her back. She widened her eyes and immediately dropped to the ground to roll herself over in the snow and force the rat to let go of her before she sprung to her paws, arched her back, and snarled angrily when a rat bit her back leg. She looked around at the three rats that circled her and understood that she was surrounded and had to fight as hard as she could.

"Silverpaw!" Doveflight yowled fearfully. She stood in front of her kits that lied in the cold snow mewling hungrily as a fourth rat that Silverpaw hadn't seen approached them. "Help!"

Silverpaw growled and darted towards Doveflight, swatting at the rat. She missed it and the rat crawled underneath Doveflight. Silverpaw watched in horror as the rat picked up the pale brown kit violently in its sharp yellow jaws and tossed him a fox-length away leaving the kit limp and silent, blood staining the white snow below it.

Doveflight let out a loud wail and swatted the rat away with her paw, yowling loudly. She raced over to her first-born kit. Silverpaw almost wanted to race over to him as well but she knew that if she did the rats would get to the other kits and kill them as well.

She raced over to the other kits and crouched over them, attacking and chasing away any rat that came near them. Blood now trickled from her small yet painful wounds.

Eventually she was able to cause enough damage to the weakest rat that she could kill it. The others rats grew frightened and left in a blur of ugly brown and grey.

Silverpaw panted heavily, her wounds bleeding even more heavily now. She gritted her teeth in pain.

She looked over at Doveflight who lied beside her lifeless kit staring at it in grief. She wanted to go over and console her friend and give her time to mourn but she also wanted to go back home before the other kits froze to death. It broke her heart to have to leave because she also knew that Doveflight wouldn't be allowed to grief for her lost kit back at camp. She wasn't even supposed to have kits.

Doveflight picked up her dead son and padded over to her before she picked up her light brown tabby kit as well in her jaws. She glanced over at Silverpaw and crouched down with dull eyes that were clouded over with nothing but grief and sadness.

Silverpaw wanted nothing more but to track down the remaining three rats and kill them cold-heartedly with her bare claws but she had to stay calm for Doveflight. She picked up the white kit and placed it on Doveflight's back before she picked up the remaining two kits. Her eyes glazed over with sorrow as she realized that she had failed to protect Doveflight and all of her kits. She forced her feelings away quickly and led them back to their forest territory.

The way back to camp made everything seem dead and silent around them. Even the trees and sky looked droopy and down. The sun didn't shine anymore making the forest that much more cold.

Silverpaw looked at Doveflight and meowed through the kits' scruff, "I'm really sorry…" She noticed that Doveflight had managed to hide the grief from her eyes. "I'm sure he went to StarClan even though you broke the code…"

She watched as Doveflight slowly nodded, looking down at her paws guiltily. Silverpaw shut her muzzle and led her into camp, listening to the kits as they mewled in hunger and fear. She guessed that they were probably freezing as well. She listened very carefully and heard the kits wheezing. They were growing ill.

Within a few moments of entering camp Lostpaw raced over with wide eyes as he noticed the five kits. He nosed towards the limp one whose body was now stiff and cold. "Is it dead?"

Silverpaw nudged Lostpaw away forcefully with her head, slightly annoyed that he wasn't concerned about how they might feel about the discussion of the dead kit. She sighed though when she realized Doveflight and her shouldn't have any feelings about the kits to begin with.

"You'll find out soon enough," she snapped playfully before she flicked her tail and led Doveflight to Swiftstar's den.

"You're back?" Swiftstar poked his head up from his nest and looked towards them looking as if he was only a shadow. "I'm going to need a report Doveflight."

Silverpaw lowered her head and dropped the two kits that she had in her jaws gently on the ground before she sat down and looked up respectfully at her leader. She could see Doveflight set the other three kits down beside her out of the corner of her eye. The four living ones nuzzled towards her belly probably starving by now. She listened to Doveflight as she spoke, rasping her tongue over the four living kits to warm them.

"We followed the surroundings of my dream until we found a kittypet in the barn. She told us she had been led there by starry cats in a dream the night before just as I had. Before we could ask any questions though, she had her kits. When they were born she told us that the starry cats told her to hand her kits over and so, she told us that we could bring them back here."

Doveflight had no emotion written on her face at all but Silverpaw knew that deep down inside she was probably dying of a broken heart.

"Halfway back here, there was a rat attack. I protected the kits while Silverpaw fought bravely. One of the kits unfortunately though was reached by a rat that snuck up on us both and was killed." Doveflight's voice cracked and she looked back at the limp pale brown kit that lied by Silverpaw's paws.

"Is that so?" Hawktalon meowed as he padded in and sat beside Silverpaw, purring happily as he pressed against her in greeting. His eyes were gleaming proudly as he took in that his apprentice had fought such disgusting creatures so bravely.

Doveflight nodded and turned to Swiftstar who was looking over at Silverpaw, pride gleaming in his eyes as well. "Silverpaw managed to kill one of the rats and chase the others away so that we could return to camp without any more bloodshed. The other four kits though won't survive long without warmth and food."

Silverpaw shuffled her paws nervously as she looked up at Doveflight. She hoped that she wasn't saying anything that would give her secret away.

"While on our little adventure I observed Silverpaw's hunting and fighting skills and I think that she should be given her warrior name, even if it may be a little early."

Silverpaw stared at her, shocked. She could feel Hawktalon's fur prickling beside her. She never really thought that at the barn she was doing anything really special but Doveflight must've thought otherwise. She stood up and meowed, "Doveflight It's alright, I can keep training with my brother and Lostpaw."

Swiftstar silenced the cats in the den with a flick of his tail before he narrowed his eyes at Hawktalon. "Hawktalon can watch his apprentice for the next few days and let me know if he agrees with you Doveflight, isn't that right Hawktalon?" He then turned his back to the cats with a yawn before meowing, "Go warm up the kits and get something to eat. I'll call a Clan meeting very soon."

Silverpaw dipped her head and stood up before she left the den silently, carrying the kits back to the medicine cat den with Doveflight. They set them all down and she began to warm the living ones up silently while Doveflight checked her wounds, putting burdock root on the ones that were already infected.

Silverpaw thanked Doveflight and glanced over at Rootpath who was carefully watching her apprentice and what she did. She went to ask her how the kits could be fed but Swiftstar yowled, calling a Clan meeting.

She looked over at Doveflight who looked back at her and meowed, "Go, I'll watch the kits." She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave Doveflight with Rootpath alone.

Silverpaw left the den and sat at the back of the gathering cats just as she always had since she had become an apprentice, between Lostpaw and Bravepaw. She looked over at the highrock and purred happily when she saw Hawktalon standing at the side and Swiftstar standing bravely as he always had since he became leader. She felt safe and comfortable now that she was back. She didn't feel like she had to constantly check for twolegs or dogs or any other creature that would harm them.

"Silverpaw and Doveflight have returned as you may or may not have noticed," Swiftstar began. "They reported to me that they had met a kittypet at the barn who had been guided by StarClan to go to the barn and have her kits. Doveflight and Silverpaw have brought them back with us, one being killed when they had to fight off rats to get back to the forest."

Silverpaw looked down at her paws surprised that no cat was asking any questions or had any suspicion. She waited until Swiftstar ended the Clan meeting before going back over to Doveflight who sat outside Rootpath's den nervously.

"How are they?" she asked.

Doveflight looked up at Silverpaw, her voice seeming dull and defeated as she meowed, "They won't live to see sunrise if they aren't fed soon. I've tried to keep them warm and give them some herbs to try and help them but they can't get better or become stronger without a mother and warm milk."

Silverpaw went to reply when she heard Swiftstar calling her name. She turned to face her leader with a respectful dip of her head. "Yes Swiftstar?" The leader greeted her with a kind purr as he sat down.

"I'm going over to StreamClan to ask Silverstar a favour. I want to bring one of her queens over to TreeClan for the four living kits."

Silverpaw stared at him wondering if Silverstar would agree to do such a thing.

"I want you to come with me." Swiftstar purred calmly, his brown tabby and white fur well groomed and kept as if nothing was able to keep him stressed. "Both you and Doveflight. She will have to say yes if I have a medicine cat and a great apprentice who will explain everything to her with me, don't you agree?"

Silverpaw wanted to decline the offer, her stomach growling and her body aching with exhaustion, but she knew that it would probably be best for the kits if she went. Besides, she knew that Swiftstar would push her to go either way.

"Alright," she breathed with a sigh before she looked back at Doveflight who was listening quietly with pricked ears.

"I've already asked Sandstripe to bury the dead kit and Smokecloud to watch the other four kits so we can leave now." The leader then turned and led both Silverpaw and Doveflight silently outside of camp and to the river where they leapt across the stepping stones to get to StreamClan's territory. They walked silently towards where the scent of cats got stronger and Silverpaw guessed that that was where camp was located. Before they were able to reach the camp though, a StreamClan patrol caught them.

"What do you think you're doing here _TreeClan_?" A blue tom padded forward towards them, a pale yellow she-cat and a smaller black tom who Silverpaw guessed to be the pale yellow she-cat's apprentice behind him. "This isn't your territory."

"I know that Hailstep. I was hoping that you would see that I have a medicine cat with me usually meaning that I come to speak to Silverstar and that there is something important to discuss," Swiftstar meowed with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Follow us." The blue tom meowed, his tail lashing in frustration. Silverpaw padded after him curiously, not even looking back at Doveflight and Swiftstar who followed quickly behind her.

They reached StreamClan camp which was surrounded by thorn bushes and a silent stream. They had found a part in the barrier of thorns that was opened and leapt across two stones there to get into camp safely without getting soaked by the stream underneath.

As soon as they entered camp Silverstar raced over with worried eyes.

"Swiftstar, why have you come?" Silverstar asked, her claws digging into the ground ready to defend herself and her camp. Silverpaw gave her and gentle look to let the she-cat know she could relax before she looked up at Swiftstar. He explained the situation with the kits clearly. Doveflight confirmed everything while Silverpaw just stood there and nodded calmly.

Silverpaw looked down at her paws and wondered if the entire forest would have to know that Doveflight's kits were just kittypets when they really weren't. She wondered if both she and Doveflight would have to hold in the lie until the moment of their death.

"Our queen Whitestream's only kit went missing one sunrise and we haven't been able to find her." Silverstar spoke quietly. "I'm sure she can go over to your camp and stay until the kits are able to eat fresh-kill." Just as she finished speaking, a light silver tabby she-cat with a white muzzle and paws walked over with wide eyes.

"Whitestream, return to camp with Swiftstar immediately. They have motherless kits and need StreamClan's help." Silverstar meowed with a sense of pride. "You will return when the kits are able to eat from the fresh-kill pile."

Silverpaw looked over at Whitestream closely and noticed that her nose was dried up and that she was trying to hide the pain in her eyes. She wondered if maybe the she-cat was still mourning the loss of her kit, or if she was upset that her leader was just giving her away like she was. Silverpaw then wondered why Silverstar would just hand over the queen like that. She wanted to say something to her leader but she instead remained quiet and just returned to camp with Swiftstar, Doveflight, and the queen afterward.

When they got to camp the Clan gave Whitestream a few dirty looks before Swiftstar explained how she would be staying until the kits were older and that Silverpaw would be guarding her as she stayed in the prisoners den.

Silverpaw had wanted to open her mouth and tell her leader she didn't want to sit around and guard a strange queen for a couple of moons the entire time he had explained to them, but she couldn't go against her leader's wishes.

"You should be glad that you get to watch the queen," Lostpaw meowed as he padded over to her, holding up his forepaw which had been healing for about a moon and a half now. Silverpaw sighed and wondered if it would heal soon, if at all.

"Swiftstar would only ask a cat he completely trusts to do that, I'm surprised he didn't ask Hawktalon."

Silverpaw sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws, looking Lostpaw in his icy cold eyes. She remembered how she had hated the tom off and on but now, after not seeing him for over half of a moon she didn't seem to be angry with him anymore. She almost felt like lying beside him in the apprentices' den forever while resting her head on his paws. Sadly though she couldn't because she still had to serve her Clan just like every other apprentice ever before her had to.

"He hasn't trusted Hawktalon since Bravestar died." Silverpaw mewed, remembering what he had said before so many positive thoughts about Lostpaw flooded her mind.

"Even if he did, he knows that Hawktalon has too many deputy duties to carry out. He can't possibly do that while sitting by the prisoners den from sunrise to sunset." She then glanced over towards the prisoners den where Whitestream was sitting beside Smokecloud, the four kits mewling at their paws.

"Who do you think is going to name the kits?" Lostpaw asked as he followed her gaze.

Silverpaw shrugged and stood up before she pressed her nose to Lostpaw's cheek gently, not even noticing that she did. She felt her fur go hot and looked down at her paws.

"I guess Whitestream will, considering she has to raise them." Silverpaw nuzzled him goodbye before she brushed past him and headed towards Whitestream and the kits. She dipped her head to Smokecloud, dismissing her before she walked into the cold den where Whitestream slowly nudged the kits further inside.

The cold dark den sent chills through Silverpaw's body as she looked around. There were very few nests and the moss of the nests reeked of mold. Silverpaw guessed that the den was so dark and cold and that the nests reeked like they did because no cat had been in the den since before she was even born. It was either that or Swiftstar was trying to punish the queen.

"I can't possibly sleep in here!" Whitestream snarled as she looked down at the four kits who were mewling hungrily. "And the kits will get sick if they sleep in _these_ nests!"

Silverpaw looked up at Whitestream and nodded in acknowledgement. "Would you like me to get some new moss? I'll have to get Smokecloud to come back so I hope you're comfortable with her watching you."

Whitestream laid down on the cold hard ground away from the nests and nuzzled the kits towards her belly to nurse. She looked up at Silverpaw and meowed, "I'm not a threat. I'm just an old she-cat who had only a single kit and now she's gone forever."

Silverpaw walked over to Whitestream and sighed. She really wanted to trust the she-cat, but not just because she felt bad for her.

"Prove to me I can trust you. Stay here while I go out and get moss. If I come back and you're gone or attacking some cat in my Clan I will have your tail and I will take you away from the kits!" She waited until the old white she-cat nodded in agreement before she turned and headed out of camp towards the river where she knew she would find fresh moss.

She found a large patch of moss once she had reached the river and dug up enough to make a large nest for the queen and kits before she rinsed it off in the river. She squeezed and shook the water from the moss the best she could before she returned back to camp and back to Whitestream.

Once she walked in she noticed that Smokecloud was standing over the kits, her tail wrapped around them to keep them warm. She went to open her mouth, prepared to start ranting about how big of a fool she had been, when she heard Whitestream approach from behind her.

"Sandstripe took me to get something to eat. You can't expect me to feed four kits when _I'm_ starving."

Silverpaw turned around and looked at Whitestream with a purr. She then made a nest using the fresh moss she had collected before she took the old moss out and gave it to Smokecloud so she could take it out of camp to bury it. She didn't have time to watch a queen, do her apprentice duties, _and _clean up the den.

By the time she had finished fixing up the den, Whitestream and the four kits were sleeping quietly in their fresh, clean nest and the sky was starting to turn dark. Silverpaw went to slip out and lie down outside of the den to stand guard when she heard Whitestream call after her. She turned around and tilted her head to the side slightly in confusion.

"What's your name? Silverpaw, right?" Whitestream mumbled and Silverpaw nodded. She wondered if the she-cat had a point following her foolish questions.

"Come lie down over here, don't freeze your tail off out there."

Silverpaw pricked her ears and stared at Whitestream and then at the four kits below her quietly. She remembered how she had slept on the other side of Doveflight when her kits had been born but she didn't want to make the she-cat that she barely knew feel uncomfortable. She shook her head and turned to walk out of the den before she wondered if Whitestream had named the kits. She looked back over her shoulder and meowed, "Have you named the kits yet?" She watched as Whitestream looked up at her in shock.

"I'm allowed to name them?" The white she-cat asked before she looked down at the four kits, pride and happiness shining in her eyes as if she had had a new litter that she could be proud of.

Silverpaw purred and wrapped her tail around her paws as she sat facing the queen. "Since you are raising them and they haven't been named yet, I think it's only fair. Besides, Swiftstar can't say who gets to name the kits. He isn't the one raising them."

Whitestream looked down at the kits again with a loud purr before she meowed, "The light brown tabby she-kit will be Acornkit, the dark brown tabby tom will be Owlkit, the blue she-kit will be Timberkit, and the white she-kit will be Patchkit."

Silverpaw looked down at the kits and understand how Acornkit, Owlkit, and Patchkit got their names but she wondered why Whitestream named the blue kit Timberkit. She guessed it had something to do with the she-cat's creativity and just told her that the names were excellent and that thanks to her, they would become great warriors for TreeClan.

For a moment Silverpaw guessed Whitestream had forgotten she was a warrior to StreamClan because she had agreed that they would be. Her eyes sparkled as she gazed lovingly at the kits, as if they were her own.

Silverpaw dipped her head and whispered so she wouldn't wake the now sleeping kits. "Get some sleep," she told her before she turned and headed out of the den, the brambles raking her fur as she passed through them.

She dug the snow away from an area of the ground and lied down, shivering as the icy cold ground was pressed against her soft belly. She lowered her head and rested it on her paws hoping that the time would pass quickly. She didn't know how long she could put up with starving, freezing, and now getting no rest while watching a queen, all while trying to finish her training.

"You shouldn't have to do this all alone, you'll die of exhaustion."

Silverpaw looked up and purred when she saw Lostpaw standing in front of her, his warm affectionate look making her completely immune to the cold, or at least that's what it felt like.

"It'll be fine Lostpaw, I'll be fine." She looked down at her paws, embarrassed when the tom kept looking at her with the same affectionate gaze. "Do you want to stay?"

Lostpaw purred and lied down beside her, putting his tail over her back to pull her closer for warmth. The two of them spent the night taking turns guarding Whitestream while purring and nuzzling each other for warmth.

Silverpaw moaned as she sat up and blinked the sleep from her eyes. Once her vision had focused she looked up at the cloudy grey sky and realized that Lostpaw must've let her sleep most of the night away. She looked around for him but he was nowhere to be seen. She turned and darted into the nursery in a great panic but sighed with relief when she saw Lostpaw and Whitestream whispering quietly, staring down at the kits.

"Hello Silverpaw." Whitestream meowed as she noticed her. "Lostpaw and I were just talking about you."

Silverpaw watched as Lostpaw turned around and looked at her, embarrassed, his ears pressed flat against his head.

"Of course," Whitestream began with a purr. "He did most of the talking."

Silverpaw walked closer to them almost glad that she had gotten some rest after the long half-moon she had had. She was also glad that Lostpaw was there for her and that Whitestream really did want to be trusted.

"I'm not so sure that's a good thing." Silverpaw teased before she _mrrowed _with amusement. Being with the two cats seemed to make her feel like there was not a thing in StarClan that could bother her. She glanced over at Lostpaw and was glad when she caught him looking at her with the same sparkling affectionate gaze he always had.

"Silverpaw," Whitestream whispered. She broke her and Lostpaw's connected gaze when Silverpaw turned around almost completely out of it.

"Hm?"

Whitestream gazed at her and purred shaking her head. "Young love, so precious and so beautiful." She looked down at her kits who were shuffling down by her belly. "I don't want to bother you but may I have something to eat?"

Silverpaw looked down at her paws embarrassed and she could feel her ears go warm and fuzzy-like. She nodded before she headed towards the den entrance when Lostpaw ran over to her, a sense of pride glowing in his icy blue eyes.

Lostpaw stopped when she looked at him and tilted his head. "What?"

Silverpaw shook her head and purred before she turned and crawled through the brambles. As soon as she stood outside of the den, the snow and harsh cold winds made her shiver and chatter her teeth. Her fur stood on end and her claws sunk into the hard ground.

She turned her head to look at Lostpaw when he pressed his body against hers, warming her. She rubbed her head along Lostpaw's large jaw before she quickly trotted over to the fresh-kill pile. The snow had made the fresh-kill all wet and nasty-like but she knew that it was still fresh-kill even if it was a bit cold and soggy.

A small mouse and a scrawny bird was all that was left. Silverpaw sighed knowing that she would have to go out hunting on a patrol later, if some other cat was willing to watch Whitestream for her.

She quickly grabbed both pieces of fresh-kill and raced back over to the prisoners den where Lostpaw was waiting outside for her, obviously guarding the den for her. She thanked him through the feathers of the bird and the thick fur of the mouse before she crawled in through the brambles once again.

"I brought you a mouse and this nearly shredded bird…." Silverpaw meowed, not exactly proud of the amount of fresh-kill that TreeClan had available. "It's all that's left."

Lostpaw followed her into the den with pricked ears and meowed, "I'm going to go hunting now seeming as the fresh-kill pile is empty." Silverpaw looked up at him to still see him gazing at her affectionately. She purred, flicking her tail goodbye to him, and watched as he turned and vanished through the brambles into camp.

Silverpaw placed the two sad looking pieces of fresh-kill beside Acornkit, Owlkit, Timberkit, and Patchkit so Whitestream could eat without having to move and disturb the kits too much. She looked down at the four kits and remembered the fight with the rats. When she had watched the rat slide under Doveflight and attack the first-born kit, it had been like her paws had been frozen to the ground.

Her body suddenly felt very heavy and she sighed wondering if she could've saved the kit. The look on Doveflight's face during it all haunted her at night which was why recently she didn't get much sleep.

"Is something wrong Silverpaw?" Whitestream asked once she'd quickly polished off the mouse. She was now clawing at the bird, trying to pluck the feathers off of its body.

"Well…" Silverpaw mumbled not sure if she really wanted to talk about it to a cat from another Clan. A sense of grief made her head heavy and she felt like she wanted to fall over. She lied down quickly and laid her head on her paws. "You have to promise not to tell anything to your Clan."

"I won't." Whitestream meowed. Silverpaw could see the seriousness in her eyes as she lifted her head and pricked her ears. She believed her.

"Doveflight and I found the kits and when we did there were five little miracles snuggled together. There was not a single she-cat in sight. We brought them back to the forest but we were attacked by rats and well, one of the kits were killed. Within those few heartbeats of the kit's death I knew that I should've been able to save him." Silverpaw looked down at the bundles of fur below Whitestream and meowed, "But I didn't…"

Whitestream looked at Silverpaw with a sympathetic gaze and meowed, "It wasn't your fault. In fact, without you all of these kits would be dead." She swept her tail over Acornkit and her litter-mates.

"Do you honestly think that Doveflight would've been able to fight off the rats by herself?" She looked down at her foster kits and purred. "There is no way she would've been able to. She'd be dead too, but thanks to you Doveflight and these four beautiful are still alive."

Silverpaw looked down at her paws embarrassed that Whitestream was somewhat praising her for everything. She nodded her head in agreement and realized herself that if she hadn't been there, there would've been more death than there had been.

"I guess you're right," she murmured before she approached her and the kits. She bent her head down and rasped her tongue over each kits head gently. Their soft and delicate bodies made her feel warm and hopeful again knowing that once the kits were older, the Clan would seem bigger and stronger.

"Can I ask you something Silverpaw?" Whitestream meowed as she wrapped her tail around her foster kits. "Who's your mother?"  
Silverpaw backed away and flattened her ears against her head in grief. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes, holding back a wail. For a moment she just stood there for what felt like forever before she eventually forced herself to push her emotions away.

"My mother was a kittypet, named Cloudwhisper." Silverpaw began before she sat down on the cold hard ground. "StarClan led her here, to warn the Clans about the green cough…" She looked at Whitestream and wondered why every cat in the forest asked about her. "How come you don't already know about her?"

Whitestream looked at Silverpaw, her gaze calm and collected. "So you're one of her kits," She glanced down at Acornkit, Owlkit, Timberkit, and Patchkit who were mewling hungrily. Silverpaw watched as she nudged them towards her belly to suckle and nodded.

"Yeah, I am."

The light tabby she-cat purred and just kept looking down at the four kits. "A hopeful she-cat came to save the forest, but not by warning us." She looked up at Silverpaw and meowed, "She was led to the forest to have herkits so they could save the forest Silverpaw, so _you _could save the forest."

Silverpaw looked up at Whitestream shocked at what she was saying. She knew that her mother had been led to the forest to warn the Clans, but maybe what she was saying was true. Maybe StarClan had said one thing, and known another thing would happen. She shook her head and meowed, "I can't save the forest. I'm just an apprentice, one apprentice!"


	14. Chapter 13

**Author's Questions/Note:**

**Questions- Who do you ship Silverpaw with? Do you think her and Lostpaw should be together? Post a review saying who you ship Silverpaw with a why. Also, feel free to tell me your favourite moment between Silverpaw and the cat of your choice!**

**Do you like the new queen, Whitestream? Let me know what you think of her.**

**Note- This will be on of maybe the five or six last chapters. I will be stopping this book so I can write the second book of this series. I felt like this book was just a bunch of random words put together and now I think I am ready for a real plot. But don't worry! Silverpaw and Lostpaw aren't going anywhere quite yet!**

Whitestream shook her head and whispered, "You're important Silverpaw, very important. When the Clans are crumbling apart you will be the cat to hold them together." She yawned and rested her head down on her paws before she slowly dozed off to sleep, the kits calmly nuzzling into her belly for warmth and milk.

Silverpaw shook her head once more and thought, _my mother died because of me, because I didn't save her… Just like Doveflight's kit…_ She stood there for a moment and looked down at her paws, a tear falling onto the cold den floor. She could've saved her mother, she could've saved the kit! She bit her bottom lip and made it bleed as she kept back a powerful wail.

"Look what I caught!" Lostpaw yowled loudly as he barrelled in through the den entrance with a squirrel dangling from his jaws. Silverpaw turned to look at him. He immediately dropped it and looked at her worriedly. "What's wrong Silverpaw?"

Silverpaw pushed Lostpaw away when he came over and pressed against her. His eyes were filled with worry and confusion and Silverpaw couldn't hold his gaze without wanting to wail out in pain.

"I could've saved them!" She eventually meowed angrily and sunk her claws into the ground. "I could've leapt and pushed my mother out of the way! I could've ran and saved that kit!" She swatted at the ground with her claws causing one of them to break and bleed.

"But I didn't, and now I'm a monster!"

Whitestream had woken up and now the kits were mewling frightfully by her belly. Lostpaw was staring at her almost amazed at what she was saying.

"No," Lostpaw growled as he forced himself over to her, not caring when he was pushed away. "You're _not _a monster!" He looked over at Whitestream and then back over at her. "If you had tried to save Cloudwhisper you would've been killed along with her! Then all of the kits and even Doveflight would be dead! Without you, eight cats would be dead instead of just two!"

Silverpaw lied down, looked down at her paws, and sighed. Everything they said made sense but for some reason she couldn't help but blame herself. Whitestream and Lostpaw both had told her that without her, the Clan would crumble apart but she couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that if she had been able to save two cats that she couldn't have been able to save more.

"I think," Silverpaw mumbled before she looked up at them and meowed louder, "I think I just need some time to myself." She then gave Lostpaw an apologetic glance as if she was asking him to watch Whitestream just a little bit longer before she headed out of the nursery and towards the apprentices' den to lie down in her nest and think.

"Smokecloud is watching Whitestream."

Silverpaw lifted her muzzle out from between her forepaws and looked over towards the entrance of the den to see Lostpaw standing and watching her with the same affectionate gaze he always had.

"Can we talk?"

Silverpaw looked back down at her paws and meowed, "I don't care what any cat says Lostpaw, I could've done something. I could've saved their lives! But I froze, I got scared, and I wimped out." She looked back up at Lostpaw who had walked over to her and was now rasping his tongue over her forehead. "And nothing can change my mind."

She watched as he lied down beside her and wondered if he was going to continue to argue with her. She was surprised when he didn't.

"You're right, you could've done something." Lostpaw whispered gently as he set his paw down on hers. "But guess what…"

Silverpaw pricked her ears and looked at him as she tilted her head to the side slightly. "What?"

Lostpaw stared her back in her eyes and whispered, "No matter what you have done or whatever you may do in the future you and only you are the Silverpaw I fell in love with."

Silverpaw looked away and down at her paws silently, her fur growing hot with embarrassment. She opened her mouth to reply but no words came to mind or out of her mouth. All she could think about was his cold gaze staring her in the eyes, making shivers go down her back. The shivers though, weren't the ones she got when the cold leaf-bare breeze whipped through the air. They were warm shivers that made her purr loudly and sink her claws contently into the ground.

"You don't have to say anything." Lostpaw murmured and she watched as he pressed his muzzle against hers. She went to pull away but quickly realized she didn't want to. She was grateful that he wasn't making her reply because she didn't know if she even could.

"I'm going to go find Rootpath and get her to check on my paw." He whispered gently. "I'll send Doveflight over if I see her, alright?"

Silverpaw nodded and watched as he got up and vanished through the entrance of the den. She wanted to run after him and pull him back beside her but she knew that there would only be an awkward silence in the den for a few moments before he eventually really had to go.

For a while Silverpaw just lied down her nest and looked at her paws, thinking about what Lostpaw had said. She thought long and hard about what the word love meant and wondered if she felt the same way.

"Lostpaw told me everything."

Silverpaw looked up quickly in alarm towards the entrance of the den. She purred with relief, glad when she saw Doveflight coming towards her.

The medicine cat apprentice looked down at her paws and then back up at Silverpaw gently. "I know you believe you haven't done enough but trust me when I tell you that without you, I wouldn't be standing her. I'd be living near twoleg place with my dying kits in the snow. I know you don't want to hear it, but it's the truth."

Silverpaw gulped to try and remove the large lump that had formed in her throat. She sighed and whispered, "I know, it's just hard to understand."

Doveflight sat closer to Silverpaw and wrapped her tail tightly around her front paws. "I still remember when Bravestar passed, Bravepaw was really upset. That was his first time really having to deal with death. Your mother and my kit were your first times to really have to deal with it."

Silverpaw nodded softly and knew she was right. When Bravestar had died Bravepaw had wailed at the top of his lungs and went into a state of mind where he didn't even want to exist anymore, just like her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she stood up and meowed, "I think I understand now Doveflight, thank you." She noticed there was a longing look in Doveflight's eyes and leaned over to whisper into her ear. "The kits are fine."

Silverpaw could feel Doveflight relax and purred gently before she walked out of the apprentices' den with her and over to the prisoners den. She didn't really like the thought of Whitestream being a prisoner considering she was raising TreeClan's future warriors but she didn't say anything so she wouldn't make any cat upset.

"Are you sure you're okay now Silverpaw?" Doveflight turned her head to ask her. "Will you be alright to keep a watch of Whitestream and the kits?"

Silverpaw sighed and nodded before she nuzzled her friend's shoulder and meowed, "Thank you, again, Doveflight, I'll see you later." She turned and raced across the crunchy snow over to Whitestream who was still lying down in her nest looking down at the four kits.

Lostpaw was sitting beside Whitestream and as Silverpaw had walked in he had looked up at her with his icy cold affectionate gaze. His posture made him look taller and even stronger with his big black head. His presence made Silverpaw nervous almost as if there were tiny baby mice running around in side of her.

"You feeling better?" Lostpaw asked, jerking her out of her thoughts. She nodded before she came closer to them and glanced down at the four kits. They were growing bigger slowly but she also noticed they were quite skinny.

"Have they not been eating?" Silverpaw asked Whitestream worriedly. She knew that if one of the kits starved to death that it would be too much for Doveflight to handle and that some cat would find out her secret.

Whitestream helped her to relax when she meowed, "They're eating but I can't produce very fattening milk when I barely get anything to eat."

Silverpaw examined the cats in the den quietly, even herself. Ever since the beginning of leaf-bare they had all become scrawny and deprived of food, but she hadn't noticed until then. She turned to Lostpaw and asked, "Where's your squirrel?"

Lostpaw seemed to gaze at her in confusion for a moment before he leapt to his paws and rushed over to the den entrance. Silverpaw watched as he dug at the snow that had been slowly falling and picked up the squirrel he had brought in earlier before she had had her little moment.

"Here it is!" he mumbled through the squirrel's tail and padded over to Whitestream, setting it down beside the four kits.

Whitestream glanced at the squirrel for moment almost looking disgusted by the creature. Silverpaw had noticed that before when she had brought her prey that she had made the same face.

"Is something wrong with our prey Whitestream?"

The queen shook her head gently and sighed. "If there was something wrong with it would I be eating it?" Silverpaw stood there not too sure how to respond.

"But you keep making these strange faces."

She watched as Whitestream purred with amusement and flexed her claws into the mossy nest below her. "I'm a StreamClan cat!" she mewed. "I'm used to eating fish!"

"Lostpaw and I could go fishing on our side of the river." Silverpaw suggested before she glanced over at Lostpaw who wasn't arguing with going to the river with her, probably only because she was willing to go.

"As long as you stay in the den of course."

She purred when Whitestream nodded and murmured as she looked down at the kits, "Where am I to go?" Silverpaw turned to Lostpaw and meowed, "Let's go," before she darted out of the den, out of camp, and towards the river. Every so often she looked back to make sure Lostpaw was following her.

Once they reached the river Silverpaw crouched down on the shore, her paws tucked under her chest. _You can do it… _she told herself. _For Whitestream, for Doveflight's kits… _

She spotted a silver fish slowly swimming in the water below and narrowed her eyes knowing that it would only take a heartbeat for it to get away if she missed. Silverpaw took a deep breath before she dipped her paw quickly into the freezing cold water, shivers going up her spine.

Silverpaw _mrrowed_ excitedly as she watched herself scoop out the fish onto the shore. For a moment she just watched it flap around on the ground before she leapt on top of it just like she would a mouse and swiftly killed it with a bite.

"Nice!" Lostpaw meowed as he crouched down beside the river, looking back at her. "You can hunt any way can't you?" He had a teasing look in his eyes that made Silverpaw purr.

"I guess I'm just a natural born hunter." Silverpaw joked before she crouched down beside the river with him. She glanced over at him and watched as he narrowed his eyes at the river and batted at the water. She jumped back when the water splashed her and watched as the fish he had been after made its way quickly down the river. Her fur prickled and her teeth began to chatter.

Lostpaw _mrrowed _in laughter and mewed, "Sorry." He rasped his tongue over her forehead.

Silverpaw rolled her eyes playfully before she nudged him with her muzzle and crouched down beside the river again. She narrowed her eyes at the cold clear water, waiting for fish. She felt something crawling on her leg and leapt to her paws, slipping on the icy snow.

She slipped and plunged into the freezing water. She yowled out for help, not realizing she was underneath the surface. She began to choke on water and kicked her paws around wildly, not sure where she was in order to swim to the surface.

She felt herself losing all air. She had no more energy to keep flailing her paws around. Silverpaw went to close her eyes knowing it was hopeless when she felt some cat's jaws grip her scruff. She gasped for air as she was pulled above the surface and blinking the water out of her eyes.

Once she was able to see again, the water having made her eyes burn, she noticed Lostpaw crouching down over her with worried eyes. "Silverpaw? Silverpaw?!" he wailed. "Silverpaw, say something! Don't leave me!"

Silverpaw coughed up water and was finally able to speak. "I'm not mouse-brain." She meowed weakly and teasingly. She sunk her claws into the ground around her and looked up at the sky, noticing it was getting awfully cloudy and windy.

She felt Lostpaw's tongue sweep over her cheek and purred before she rolled herself over so she was lying on her belly. She nuzzled Lostpaw gently and felt herself and him shaking. She knew Lostpaw was shaking because he had been petrified that he had lost her, but she wasn't ready to leave.

"Grab the fish…" She meowed. "It should be enough for Whitestream for now…" She then forced herself to her paws and stood there shakily for a moment before she was able to keep her balance.

Once Lostpaw had the fish clamped between his jaws she leaned against him and the two of them slowly made their way back to camp, both of them still shivering.

"What happened?!" Bravepaw growled as he raced over and narrowed his eyes at them. "Did you go to the river?"

Bravepaw was the last thing Silverpaw wanted to deal with at the moment. She hissed in his face before she slowly made her way over to the prisoners den where Whitestream was waiting.

"Oh dear StarClan!" The queen meowed loudly. "What happened to you?"

Silverpaw turned her head around as Lostpaw entered the den before she turned it back around to face Whitestream. "I fell in the river." She mumbled through the scaly fish. "But I caught one." She walked over to her and dropped it beside the kits who mewled in surprise.

"Thank you Silverpaw." Whitestream looked down at the fish and licked her jaws before she ate it quickly. When she had finished she looked up and meowed, "Come here will you, both of you?"

Silverpaw felt Lostpaw press against her cold wet fur which was beginning to freeze over. She nodded and moved closer to Whitestream and flinched when the she-cat reached her muzzle towards her. She then felt Whitestream's soft pink tongue run along her cheek and then her forehead. She backed away and watched as she did the same to Lostpaw.

"You didn't have to jump into the river for me you two." Whitestream whispered before she wrapped her tail around her foster kits and laid her head on her paws.

Silverpaw purred and looked up at Lostpaw. He looked back at her, their gaze holding strong. She remembered the first time they met. He had looked silly with such a small body and such a large head. He had had a scared and lost look to his eyes. She had been worried that he had come to take over the nursery and ruin the Clan's life but now she realized that if it hadn't been for him she could've died on multiple occasions.

Silverpaw sat outside the nursery, Whitestream having been moved there about a moon ago. She looked around camp and noticed that the snow was now starting to melt and turn to slush.

Acornkit, Owlkit, Timberkit, and Patchkit were now two moons old and were beginning to get used to fresh-kill. They were healthy and growing strong. Acornkit and Timberkit reminded her more of Doveflight every day while Owlkit and Patchkit were a lot like their father.

"Silverpaw, can I talk to you?" Silverpaw looked up at Doveflight who was approaching her and dipped her head in greeting and respect.

"Of course Doveflight, is something wrong?" She heard loud mewing from inside the nursery and told Doveflight to stay put. She crawled inside through the brambles and purred with amusement when she saw the four kits begging Whitestream to go out into camp.

"No, for the final time!" Whitestream snapped, seeming quite stressed. "It's wet and cold outside and if you go out you'll get sick!" She looked up at Silverpaw and dipped her head kindly.

Silverpaw returned the greeting before she crawled back out through the brambles where Doveflight lied down in the slush, waiting.

"What's up Doveflight?" she asked as she stayed standing not wanting to get too wet. It wasn't freezing anymore but it was still quite bone-chilling if a cat's fur was soaked. "Is it about the kits, or Hawktalon?"

Doveflight shook her head and Silverpaw could see that she had briefly looked over her shoulder and into the nursery. She wondered if she regretted making the decision of leaving her kits or regretted the decision of becoming a medicine cat.

"It's Lostpaw…" Doveflight whispered and Silverpaw felt her heart stop. She noticed a look of remorse in her eyes and wondered what was wrong with him.

Nearly a moon and a half ago when Silverpaw had fallen into the river and he had rescued her, Lostpaw had not only injured his paw more but he had also fallen ill. The past moon or so he hadn't gotten better or worse and now Silverpaw was worried he had gotten a lot worse.

Doveflight looked down at her paws and meowed, "Rootpath doesn't think his paw is going to heal properly. She says he might not be able to be a good warrior…"

Silverpaw stepped back and screeched, "No!" She sunk her claws into the ground and meowed, "Lostpaw will be a great warrior, better than any other! His paw will heal, it will!" She couldn't let herself believe she ruined his life, she just couldn't.

She watched as Doveflight set her tail on her shoulder and sighed knowing she needed to calm herself. She brushed past Doveflight and raced across the slushy ground over to Rootpath's den. She saw Lostpaw lying down in one of the nests and felt like racing over to him and nuzzling him. She wanted to tell him that no matter what he would always be the best warrior to her. But then she had to consider that maybe Lostpaw didn't know and just stood there, panting heavily.

"Silverpaw?" Lostpaw meowed as he turned his head to look at her. "Is something wrong?" His voice was slightly hoarse.

Silverpaw purred at the sound of his voice no matter what it sounded like and padded over. He sounded like he wasn't that sick anymore, more like he was recovering.

"Everything's fine Lostpaw." She made sure she didn't step on his still broken paw and lied down beside him so she could rub her head against his jaw.

"You seem happy to see me." Lostpaw purred before he rasped his tongue over her ears. She nodded and meowed, "I've always been happy to see you… I want to tell you something actually." She looked down at her paws and purred as she remembered when he had told her he loved her unconditionally.

Silverpaw opened her mouth to say what she wanted to say when she heard a loud caterwaul and leapt to her paws. She arched her back and jumped over Lostpaw before she raced to the entrance of the den and poked her head outside.

Silverpaw gasped as she watched Redstar and his Clan barrel in through the camp entrance. Hawktalon and Bravepaw had immediately pinned down Coyotepelt while Smokecloud and Sandstripe were hissing and batting at two DarkClan apprentices. Foxtail had Ashclaw pinned down.

She pulled back into the den and meowed, "We have to go to the nursery now! I've got to protect Whitestream, but I can't do it constantly worrying about you three." She then helped Lostpaw to her paws and rushed them over to the nursery.

She sighed with relief when they were safe in the nursery with Whitestream and the kits but as she went to go inside she felt a heavy weight on her back that pushed her against the wet ground. She yowled and felt sharp claws rake against her flanks. She twisted her head around to hiss in the cat's face.

"Silverpaw?!" The cat yowled as he narrowed his eyes at her. Silverpaw shoved him off as he loosened his grip and hissed at him before she recognized his voice.

"Coldpaw?!" She growled and looked back towards the nursery. She looked back at Coldpaw when he meowed, "I'm Cold_scar _now." She watched as he glanced over her shoulder.

"He's in there isn't he?" Coldscar asked with grief in his voice. "I want to see him, now."

Silverpaw's fur prickled as she meowed, "You're Clan is attacking mine and you want me to take you inside the nursery where I am trying to protect my Clanmates because _you _want to have a little meet and greet with Lostpaw?!"

Coldscar looked down at his paws and chuckled. "I can't believe you're still apprentices."

Silverpaw pricked her ears and meowed, "Well believe it because we TreeClan cats work for our names. We don't just _demand _things from others!" She leapt and pinned Coldscar to the ground, knowing she had to remain loyal to her Clan even if he was Lostpaw's brother. She bent down and hissed angrily in his ear to give him one a final chance, "Get out of here."

Silverpaw sunk her claws into the ground after she had landed when Coldscar had pushed her off. She chased after him as he darted immediately for the camp entrance. Once he was out of camp she skidded to a stop and turned around to look around. She felt sick to her stomach when she realized that they were outnumbered.

"Help!" Silverpaw heard one of her Clanmates screech. She threw her head around to see Rootpath pinned on her back underneath Ashclaw, his claws sunken into her throat.

Silverpaw yowled angrily and hurled herself towards Ashclaw. Before she could reach them though, Ashclaw swiped his claws across Rootpath's throat one last time before the medicine cat went limp. Silverpaw skidded to a stop and widened her eyes in disbelief knowing that rushing over would be pointless.

"Doveflight!" Silverpaw wailed before she padded over cautiously to her medicine cat and shoved her muzzle into her warm fur. She noticed that the medicine cat was quickly losing blood and that her chest was, although barely, still falling and rising. She sighed and knew that the medicine cat would die soon, no matter what any cat did. Her life was in StarClan's paws now.

She wanted to run away and fight, anger pulsing through her, but she felt that she had to stay for Doveflight.

"No! No!" Silverpaw looked up to see Doveflight racing over wailing angrily. She watched as her friend bent down beside her dying mentor and began grooming her wounds, tears rolling down her muzzle.

"I never got to prove myself to you! You doubted me!"

Silverpaw waited a few heartbeats after Rootpath had drifted off to StarClan before she rested her tail on Doveflight's shoulder and murmured, "She's gone…" She pressed her ears against her head and closed her eyes, wishing that it was all a dream. Rootpath had been the medicine cat for as long as she had lived, and even though she trusted Doveflight with her life everything would be completely different without Rootpath as the medicine cat.

Silverpaw shook her head and watched Doveflight as she nuzzled into her dead mentor's fur. She wanted to comfort the she-cat but she heard a loud yowl from behind her and spun around to see Ashclaw leaping towards her. She leapt up at Ashclaw and crashed into him, sending them both rolling across the slush-covered ground in a mixture of loud snarls.

"Oh no you don't!" Silverpaw snarled and she slashed his flank open with her claws. She lunged at his neck and gripped his scruff in her jaws before she shook him vigorously, completely controlled by her fury. She felt Ashclaw's hind claws rake at her belly and growled before she clawed Ashclaw over the nose.

She stood over top of Ashclaw who was growling and spitting in her face as she looked around camp. Pools of blood and tufts of fur seem to cover areas of the camp and she hoped that her Clan, although smaller and weaker, would be victorious.

Silverpaw snarled loudly when she felt Ashclaw's teeth sink into her shoulder. She raked her claws across his chest in defence. For a few moments the two of them rolled around in a ball of fury until eventually Ashclaw retreated angrily, darting out of camp. Silverpaw looked down at her paws and cringed when she saw that a mixture of dark grey fur and dark red blood had gathered between her claws.

"Silverpaw! The nursery!" Doveflight meowed from beside Rootpath who she refused to leave alone.

Silverpaw turned her head to look towards the nursery where she saw Coyotepelt and Redstar trying to get to it unnoticed. She growled and sprinted over as fast as she could before she leapt and landed on Coyotepelt's back.

"Get off of me _kittypet_!" The DarkClan deputy hissed and Silverpaw gasped when she dropped to the ground and rolled over. She was forced to loosen her grip before she leapt up onto her paws and bit Redstar's tail, the leader trying to get inside the nursery.

Redstar yowled angrily and swatted at Silverpaw with a hiss. Silverpaw stood frozen before she was knocked a fox-length away, blood now trickling down over her eye.

Within that moment the thought of Lostpaw as a kit being knocked away just as she had been made her furious. She remembered that Lostpaw was in the nursery with Whitestream.

"You will _never _touch Lostpaw again!" she yowled before she sped back over to Redstar and batted her front paw down hard on Redstar's head, remembering what Hawktalon had taught her. The DarkClan leader toppled over and flailed his legs around in confusion.

Silverpaw spat in Redstar's face before she turned to Coyotepelt and spat in her face. "Go fight someone your own size, leave the kits alone!" She sighed with relief when the DarkClan deputy helped her leader up and the two them left to go fight somewhere else within camp. She then crawled through the brambles and into the nursery.

"Lostpaw? Whitestream?" Silverpaw called hoping that some cat hadn't gotten there earlier. When she got inside she saw Whitestream curling her tail tightly around her four foster kits. The five of them were shaking enormously frightened. She looked around and noticed that Lostpaw wasn't in the nursery.

"Where's Lostpaw?" she meowed worriedly before she raced around the den in circles looking for him. "Where is he?!" she repeated, starting to grow frustrated.

She looked up at Whitestream when she hissed in annoyance. "He left with some cat that looked almost exactly like him." The queen looked down at her mewling kits and growled, "I hope DarkClan leaves soon."

Silverpaw went to reply when she heard a loud yowl that sounded familiar. She ran straight through the brambles causing them to give away and carve deep scratches along her sides.

She looked around camp until she spotted Lostpaw who was lying on his side, both Redstar and Coldscar standing over him. She got closer so she could hear what they were saying since they didn't seem to want to harm Lostpaw.

"Coldscar, kill him! Prove your loyalty!"

"I…"

"Now!"

Silverpaw leapt between Redstar and Coldscar and snarled angrily. "No one is killing anyone!" She walked quickly over to Lostpaw and stood in front of him worriedly, crouching down to block him. "If you want to kill him, you're going to have to kill _me _first…"

She looked up at Coldscar who was staring at her apologetically and she looked away from him, feeling betrayed.

"Very well." Redstar growled. Silverpaw screeched in surprise and looked up when the leader leapt and pinned her to the ground. "No!" she yowled, "No!" She kicked upwards with her hind legs, shoving the dark red tom off of her. She ran her claws along the side of his face, making the tom furious.

Silverpaw dodged his attack as he lunged toward her to bite at her throat before she leapt onto his back and sunk her claws into his sides angrily. She bit down on the back of his neck, just barely missing the death blow. She listened as he yowled and leapt off of him when he dropped to the ground in pain.

"Go home," she snarled, her back arched and her fur sticking up on end. "It's pointless if a _kittypet _can beat you." She purred, amused with herself, before she bent down beside Lostpaw and licked his cheek. She glanced up at Coldscar who was looking at her with wide eyes.

"Go!" she spat angrily at the tom. She turned to Lostpaw and meowed, "We have to get you back into the nursery…" She nudged him and helped him to his paws before she led him quickly back to the nursery where Doveflight, Rootpath's body, Whitestream, and the kits were gathered together.

"It's okay…" she whispered before she settled Lostpaw down at the back of the den. "It should be over soon but until then… I have to go fight." She turned to leave through the brambles when she heard Lostpaw meowed, "Silverpaw, don't go. What if…"

Silverpaw cut him off with a flick of his tail and meowed, "What if I'm killed?" She sighed and looked down at her paws before she looked up. "I have to protect and serve my Clan Lostpaw, even if that means sacrificing my life."

"But," Lostpaw began. "After everything I told you?"

Silverpaw felt a claw of pain stab scratch at her heart and she closed her eyes quickly. She wanted to say that she felt the same way but heard more wails and yowls from outside of the den in camp.

"I'm still alive aren't I? I fought off the DarkClan leader and deputy for StarClan's sake!" She sighed and flicked her tail, a simple farewell to them in case something did happen to her. "I have to go."

Silverpaw turned and darted into camp before any cat could say another word. She looked around camp frantically and noticed that Swiftstar was stuck underneath Redstar's grip and gasped. She darted over and rammed into Redstar's side, sending him stumbling off of Swiftstar and onto his own side in the cold wet slush. She then leapt on top of him and began batting at him angrily with unsheathed claws.

"You're a fool…" Redstar spat in her face. She growled and bit his muzzle angrily before she slashed her fore claws over his eyes.

"Says the brave DarkClan leader who's been pinned down by such a small she-cat!" Silverpaw yowled angrily before she bit down on his ear and reared upwards, tearing it and causing blood to splatter on her chest. She leapt off of him as he yowled in agony and watched as he finally gave up and ran out of camp, his Clanmates following a few moments later.

"Silverpaw!" Silverpaw heard and she spun around to see Hawktalon limping toward her, relief clouding over his tired brown eyes. He had multiple sever wounds and the areas of fur around them were drenched in crimson red blood.

"You need to see Doveflight." Silverpaw scolded him, slightly worried about her mentor. She then noticed that he looked confused and sighed, remembering that she, Doveflight, Lostpaw, and Whitestream were the only cats who knew Rootpath was dead.

"Ashclaw killed Rootpath." She announced and her voice cracked with grief. "I tried to save her, but I wasn't fast enough." She felt Hawktalon move towards her and press against her to comfort her, but it didn't help her feel better. She nudged his shoulder, careful not to hurt him, and told him once again that he should go and see Doveflight.

She watched as her mentor walked off towards Rootpath's former den and wondered if Doveflight was already in there, having mourned for her former mentor during the battle. She looked around camp and noticed that several cats were gathered around Rootpath who had been placed in the centre of camp for vigil.

Silverpaw remembered that Lostpaw and the others were still waiting in the nursery probably wondering about her fate. She raced over and crawled through the brambles and purred when she noticed that they were all safe. She watched as Lostpaw jumped up onto his three good paws and limped over to her. She nuzzled him and meowed, "Lostpaw,"

Lostpaw dragged his tail over muzzle and meowed, "You should clean your pelt." Silverpaw watched as he began to groom the melted slush and dried blood from her fur and wounds. For a heartbeat she felt like they were the only two cats in the forest, until she heard Swiftstar yowling outside of the nursery, calling every cat who was old enough to leave camp for a Clan meeting.

Silverpaw helped Lostpaw up and led him out into the clearing where they sat in their normal places. While Lostpaw leaned on one side of her, Bravepaw sat on the other. Her brother's brown tabby fur was soaked in blood, mostly of others. She watched as he turned his head to give her a look, probably wondering why she was looking at him.

Silverpaw cringed at the look of evil in his eyes and realized that he was probably proud that he had others' blood painted along his coat. She couldn't understand why her brother had become the tom he had but she wasn't about to ask him and make him angrier at her.

"Attention!" Silverpaw looked up at Swiftstar who had begun to speak. "DarkClan surprised us all with an attack."

Silverpaw bit her tongue to hold back an _mrrow _of laughter as Swiftstar spoke. It was no surprise that of all Clans, DarkClan had attacked them. She glanced beside her and at Lostpaw who was staring up at Swiftstar hopelessly. She knew that at the rate his paw was healing, he wouldn't be named a warrior for a while.

"A surprise?!" Silverpaw heard a cat from the front of the group of gathered cats and lifted her head to see Hawktalon looking up at Swiftstar with a growl. "We all know DarkClan is mouse-brained enough to attack any Clan whenever they please!"

Silverpaw nervously shuffled her paws and hoped that Swiftstar wouldn't be angry with Hawktalon for once again commenting on what he said. Ever since Bravestar had died, Swiftstar had been questioned always by Hawktalon who used to be one of his closest friends. Her thoughts stopped when she heard the cats around her agree with Hawktalon.

"You may be right Hawktalon." Swiftstar agreed with a sigh. "But we can decide our revenge later and hopefully it won't include having to shed blood." Silverpaw watched as Swiftstar looked towards her, Lostpaw, and Bravepaw and wondered what he was about to say next.

"Silverpaw, you fought off Redstar bravely and probably saved TreeClan from disaster. Since you did, I want to give you your warrior name."


	15. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:**

**Heyo guys! So I've been told that some people might not like longer chapters that much, so I'm just going to post a shorter chapter for now. Do you guys like longer or shorter chapters? Let me know so I don't make the chapters too long or too short c:**

Silverpaw leapt to her paws in complete shock. She had forgotten that Lostpaw had been leaning against her and watched as he fell down beside her in a flailing ball of legs. She gasped before she lied down beside him and nudged him.

She thought quickly and wondered if she really wanted to become a warrior. When she had first become an apprentice she had imagined that the day she became a warrior would be different. She had imagined that everything would be peaceful, that Rootpath and her mother would still be alive, that Doveflight wouldn't have broken the code, and that she would have become a warrior with both Bravepaw and Lostpaw. She didn't want to become a warrior unless at least one of those things would be true.

"Not unless Lostpaw and Bravepaw receive their warrior names as well," Silverpaw meowed clearly. She ignored the loud and surprised gasps around her, mostly between Foxtail, Hawktalon, and Smokecloud.

"I had imagined this day to be the best day of my life but it hasn't been so far. The only way I will accept my warrior name is if…" Silverpaw took a deep breath knowing she was probably never going to receive her warrior name if she kept what she was doing up. "Is if both Bravepaw and Lostpaw receive theirs too!"

She glanced at Lostpaw and then up at Bravepaw and noticed that for once they had something in common. They both looked shocked but at the same time also glad.

"Very well Silverpaw." Swiftstar meowed with a dip of his head. "Will the three of you please step forward then?"

Silverpaw's eyes widened and she sunk her claws into the ground with excitement. _Is he serious? _She nuzzled Lostpaw to his paws and then led both him and Bravepaw towards the highrock.

"I, Swiftstar, leader of TreeClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Silverpaw do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Silverpaw looked at Lostpaw and Bravepaw who sat side by side behind her, Lostpaw leaning against Bravepaw. For once in their lives they weren't bickering and arguing.

"I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Silverpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Silverfinch in honour of your first kill. StarClan honours your loyalty and your strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of TreeClan. Without you, we would be truly lost."

Silverpaw purred happily and watched as Swiftstar leapt off of the highrock and approached her. She licked his shoulder as he set his muzzle down on the top of her head. Silver_finch_ then stepped back and let Lostpaw lean against her as Bravepaw stepped forward.

"I, Swiftstar, leader of TreeClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained long and hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Bravepaw tell me, do you promise to uphold the warrior code? Do you promise to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Silverpaw watched as Bravepaw stood tall and pricked her ears as he meowed, "Yes Swiftstar, even at the cost of my life." She looked at Lostpaw and noticed he was looking nervous. She nudged him gently and licked his cheek. He reminded her of the Lostkit he had been many moons ago.

"I don't know if I want to do this." Lostpaw admitted. Silverfinch nudged him and meowed, "You'll be fine." She looked back up at Swiftstar as he continued.

"By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Bravepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Braveleap. StarClan honours your bravery and intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of TreeClan."

Silverfinch watched as the leader and Brave_leap_ exchanged words before she congratulated him quietly.

"Lostpaw, please step forward as best you can."

Silverfinch helped Lostpaw forward enough before she let him lie down. She then backed away slowly to sit beside her brother, both of their heads held high.

"I, Swiftstar, leader of TreeClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained to understand the ways of the code, and I give him to you as a warrior in his turn. Lostpaw, do you wish to uphold the warrior code and promise to protect and defend TreeClan, even if it results in death?"

Silverfinch purred when Lostpaw nodded and kept watching proudly. She felt almost like a different cat now being a warrior.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Lostpaw you will be kept as Lost and from this moment you will be known as Lostsoul. StarClan honours your courage and determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of our Clan."

Silverfinch watched as Swiftstar touched Lostsoul's head with his muzzle. She flinched and wondered why Swiftstar would give him such a strange name but then she considered that her leader knew what he was doing.

Before any cat could chant their names Swiftstar meowed, "You three don't have to hold vigil due to the circumstances, but you can if you'd like." Silverfinch watched as his gaze swept over to where Rootpath's body had been laid down, lavender placed accordingly by Doveflight.

"Rootpath was cold heartedly murdered during the battle." Silverfinch heard him meow softly and she could tell he was mourning. Rootpath had supported Swiftstar even before he was leader. The creamy she-cat with dark tabby stripes had also been very beautiful and very wise and Silverpaw knew that any tom could miss a cat like her.

"A vigil will be held, for those who are strong enough to stay up." Swiftstar announced before he flicked his tail, ending the Clan meeting. Silverfinch purred and nuzzled Lostsoul as the Clan cheered for them. She pressed against him gently and purred even louder, glad that through it all they were still closer than ever.

She helped him over to the warriors' den where he would need to rest his paw once the clearing was less crowded. She could see how exhausted he was after having almost been killed. She let him get comfortable in his next before she curled up beside him and laid her head on his back quietly.

She had almost forgotten about Rootpath when she had started to doze off. She wasn't sure she wanted to get up and say goodbye yet. She was comfortable and happy now with Lostsoul. So she decided that she would wake up before Rootpath was taken for burial.

She leapt to her paws as soon as she felt herself waking up. She looked down at Lostsoul who was still asleep and rasped her tongue over his head before she walked out of the den quietly.

The slush had almost completely melted by now leaving the air smelling fresh and clean and the ground muddy and wet. Silverfinch was glad that leaf-bare was ending within the next quarter-moon. Once new-leaf started she knew that the Clan would grow stronger again.

During leaf-bare multiple cats had nearly starved. She remembered when Hawktalon once had looked at her and told her that he could see every rib in her slender body. She had been very worried then, wondering if she would survive.

Silverfinch shook the moss out of her pelt and trotted over to Rootpath as she noticed that no cat was up yet. She lied down beside Rootpath and murmured, "Rootpath," She sighed and looked down at her paws, knowing that there was a lot she wanted to say to her.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to you in time. I'm sorry that I couldn't run faster." She nuzzled her head into Rootpath's cold chest fur and whispered, "If you see Cloudwhisper and the kit, please just send me a sign. I need to know that they aren't lost somewhere in the skies because Cloudwhisper was a kittypet and the kit was the result of broken code."

For a heartbeat Silverfinch could feel Rootpath beside her, comforting by resting her tail on her shoulder. Silverfinch thought for a moment that maybe Rootpath wasn't dead and went to nuzzle her happily when Rootpath's presence disappeared. Silverfinch bit her tongue and held back a wail as she gave Rootpath's frozen fur a couple of quick licks.

"Silverfinch, do you want to help us bury her outside of camp?" Sandstripe asked. Silverfinch turned to face the she-cat who was speaking to her. She sunk her claws into the ground, not wanting to have to say goodbye to Rootpath yet. She shook her head and made her way back over to the warriors' den where Braveleap and Lostsoul were still asleep. She nudged Braveleap's shoulder with her muzzle and mewed, "Want to come hunting with me?"

Braveleap sat up with an enormous yawn. "I guess so," muttered the young brown tabby tom. Silverfinch didn't say anything, not a single word. She led him out of camp and then further away, hoping there would be more prey the farther they went. Her wounds ached and made her feel stiff, her legs quivering.

Silverfinch parted her jaws as she lifted her head and breathed in the crisp air for the taste of prey. She spotted a mouse's tail visible from behind a bush and darted towards it, hunger clawing at her belly. She growled angrily when the mouse began to run and guessed she should've been more careful. She kept running after the mouse and dodged the bush it had been hiding behind. She halted when she realized that she didn't appear to be in the forest anymore.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your hunting Silverfinch, but you asked for a sign didn't you?"

Silverfinch whipped around and saw Rootpath lying down at the trunk of a tall oak tree. She gasped and noticed that tiny stars glittered around her paws.

"Am I in StarClan?!" she asked in alarm. Had she fallen and hit her head?

Silverfinch watched as the former TreeClan medicine cat stood up before she turned and dashed off quickly, almost looking as if her paws didn't even touch the ground. "Wait!" she yowled before she darted after her at a quick, steady pace. "Are Cloudwhisper and the kit here?!" she asked impatiently.

She halted when Rootpath stopped effortlessly and looked questioningly at the she-cat. She noticed she was gazing out into the open and followed her eyes. Not too far away she could see two cats sitting on a boulder, a kit and an older cat. She gasped realizing that they must've been her mother and the kit. She raced forward anxiously.

"Hello my dear Silverfinch." Cloudwhisper meowed as she approached them. "I watched you fight and I watched you become a warrior." Silverfinch let out a purr and looked back toward Rootpath who was watching quietly.

"This is Eaglekit, Doveflight's oldest kit and son."

Silverfinch looked back at her mother and then down at the broad shouldered pale brown kit beside her. He reminded her a lot of Hawktalon only he had a different coloured pelt. He had the same glow in his eyes and he had the same muscular body shape.

She bent down and nuzzled the kit before she meowed, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you." As her muzzle touched the kit's she felt sudden shock and pain before there was a freezing sensation. She realized that that must've been how he had felt at the time of his death. She then turned to her mother who was looking at her, pride and love sparkling in her eyes.

"Cloudwhisper…" Silverfinch whispered respectfully, her voice sharp with grief. "I wanted to rescue you, but-," She was cut off by Cloudwhisper. The beautiful she-cat dragged her tail along her muzzle.

"Hush…" she meowed before she nuzzled Silverfinch softly. Silverfinch at first felt worry and love but then she felt alarmed and looked around frantically wondering why. Silverfinch gasped for air and fell to the ground. It felt like she had been pinned down and crushed by a large tom.


	16. Chapter 15

Silverfinch flailed her paws and tried to yowl for help but she couldn't breathe. Tears welled up in her eyes and she tried to yowl again. She looked up at her mother who was just looking calmly down at her.

"Relax, don't fight it."

Silverfinch closed her eyes and sunk her claws into the ground until she could eventually breathe again.

"What was that?!" Silverfinch panted. She sat up and narrowed her eyes at her mother, realizing that she had a look of agony in her eyes.

"That's how you felt before you died? When I could've saved you?" She looked down at Eaglekit and then back at Rootpath who was still gazing over at them.

"Silverfinch dear," Cloudwhisper murmured. "You couldn't have done anything to save me, Eaglekit, or Rootpath. Remember when I told you when you were a kit about why cats must die?"

Silverfinch went to answer when both Cloudwhisper and Eaglekit began to disappear.

"No!" she yowled. "Please, don't leave me!" She felt pain stab at her heart and she watched as her mother and the kit that had never even got to experience Clan life disappeared into nothing. She turned around to face Rootpath who had been sitting quietly behind her, her tail wrapped neatly around her paws.

"You and Cloudwhisper, do you both know about Doveflight and her kits?" Silverfinch asked, afraid of what the she-cat would say.

"Yes," the former TreeClan medicine cat replied. "We know she had kits and broke the code while she was training to be a medicine cat."

Silverfinch looked at her, shocked. She sank into deep thought. She wondered how Rootpath and Cloudwhisper knew, or if they had known all along. She hesitated to speak as she nervously shuffled her paws around.

"Once we joined StarClan, we learned all the secrets within the Clans." Rootpath meowed, assuring Silverfinch. "But since you're here, there is a message I want you to deliver to Doveflight."

_Why me? _Silverfinch wondered but she remained silent and dipped her head respectfully.

"The wandering eagle will exchange glances with the mouse and the sparrow will be free."

Silverfinch sunk her claws into the ground and watched as Rootpath started to disappear.

"Wait!" she demanded. "What does it mean?!" She noticed that Rootpath had only half disappeared before she turned and raced off. Silverfinch chased after, panting heavily. She leapt around the bushes and everything went dark for a moment. She found herself tripping and hitting the ground with a loud yowl. "Come back!"

"Silverfinch?" She looked up to see Braveleap standing over her curiously. "Why are you on the ground?" he muttered. Silverfinch leapt to her paws and dropped the mouse that had somehow been clamped in her jaws. "Where's Rootpath?" she asked, wondering if he had seen her as well.

Braveleap glared at Silverfinch and growled, "Are you _trying _to be mouse-brained?" She leapt to her paws and defended herself.

"No!" She looked around frantically and supressed a wail of frustration, not wanting to scare whatever prey might be starting to come out of their leaf-bare homes.

"I need to go," Silverfinch murmured before she turned and bounded off quickly back to camp. As she tumbled in through the entrance she wailed Doveflight's name knowing that she needed to be the first cat who heard about the message Rootpath had passed on to her.

"Silverfinch, what's happened?" Doveflight meowed as she came out from her den. Her fur wasn't groomed and she had a lost look in her eyes. Silverfinch guessed that she wasn't used to having to do things without Rootpath standing beside her and instructing her.

"When I was out hunting I ended up in StarClan and I saw Rootpath, Cloudwhisper," Silverfinch began. She leaned over and whispered in Doveflight's ear, "I even saw your son. His name is Eaglekit and he reminds me a lot of Hawktalon."

"Come inside," Doveflight instructed with cold eyes before she led her inside. She looked around and scanned the den with her eyes silently. It felt cold and empty inside without Rootpath around to prick her ears and listen to their conversations. She then felt a cat's presence beside her and knew that Rootpath was listening.

"My son, his name is Eaglekit?" Doveflight asked as she sat down and groomed her chest fur, trying to hide the grief that was in her eyes in case some cat walked in. "How is he?"

"He's good," she began. "His eyes are open. A sweet hazel colour." She changed subjects, seeing that Doveflight was growing uncomfortable. "I talked to my mother and Rootpath." Silverfinch glanced down at her paws and meowed, "My mother told me to remember what she told me as a kit. I think she means the time Bravestar died. She had told me that in order for new cats to be born, some must die."

Doveflight spun around to face Silverfinch and whispered, "Do you think that Rootpath and Cloudwhisper died because I had kits?!" The brown she-cat looked alarmed and afraid. Silverfinch moved close to her and pressed against her to comfort her. She let her tail tip rest on her friend's shoulder.

"Maybe, but there's something else."

She watched as Doveflight looked away, obviously still hurting because of Rootpath and Eaglekit's death.

"Rootpath gave me a message to give you. She said that the wandering eagle will exchange glances with the mouse and that the sparrow will be free." She paused for a heartbeat to let the she-cat try and understand the prophecy. "What does it mean?"

Doveflight had her paws tucked under her chest as she stared blankly down at her tail which she had wrapped tightly around her body. "I-I don't know. We haven't had a prophecy for over twelve moons now."

Silverfinch nodded in understanding. The last prophecy that the Clan had had was the prophecy of the green cough attack when her mother had first come to the forest.

"I think that maybe there's a great evil," Doveflight mewed, uncertainty to her voice. "And that maybe some cat will save another cat by sacrificing his or her life?" She shrugged and watched as the young medicine cat grew troubled. She nuzzled her shoulder and meowed, "It can be our secret until you figure it out."

Silverfinch stood up and left the den, craning her neck around to look over her shoulder once before she left Doveflight all alone in Rootpath's former den. _Things are going to be so much different around here… _she thought before she went over towards Hawktalon who would surely give her something to do.

Silverfinch sat up in her nest and blinked her eyes drowsily. She felt a paw resting on her tail and looked down beside her to see Lostsoul sleeping quietly. It had been a couple of moons since he along with her brother and her had become warriors and leaf-bare was no more. The sun had melted and dried out all of the muddy slush and even the oak trees in their territory were starting to grow leaves back. Prey was plentiful now and life seemed to be getting better.

The Clan had recovered since DarkClan had attacked and at the very first gathering after the attack, Swiftstar and Redstar had settled their fury. That same gathering Swiftstar had announced that a DarkClan cat had killed Rootpath, making the Clans cautious for possible DarkClan attacks.

"Hm?" Lostpaw meowed as he sat up, keeping his forepaw off the ground. It would still be a couple of moons before it was fully healed. Silverfinch just prayed to StarClan that it would heal properly.

The muscular black tom nuzzled her shoulder, his cold icy gaze resting on her. "How did you sleep?" Silverfinch yawned before she mewed, "Alright." She arched her back in a stretch before she lied back down and twined her tail with his. "And you?"

"My paw hurt so I tossed and turned a lot." Lostsoul meowed with a sigh as he looked down at his paws, his neck muscles rippling underneath his silky black coat. "I just wish it would heal already!"

Silverfinch nodded and meowed, "You're the one that jumped under me remember?" She watched as Lostsoul looked her in her eyes and purred when he meowed, "It was worth saving your life." She stretched her neck and nuzzled his cheek gently before she murmured, "I have to go…" She sighed as she stood up and padded out of the warriors' den, leaving Lostsoul's warmth behind.

"You, Sandstripe and I are going on the dawn patrol." Hawktalon meowed as he padded over to her with tired eyes. She nodded before she raced over to the fresh-kill pile. She grabbed the smallest piece of fresh-kill she could find, a plump mouse, and settled down beside the fresh-kill pile. She gobbled up the mouse hungrily before she stood up and headed towards the camp entrance where Sandstripe and Hawktalon were talking.

Silverfinch looked at Sandstripe and her mind began to wonder when she noticed she had an affectionate look in her eyes. "What are you two talking about?" Sandstripe turned to her and meowed, "Don't tell but… I think I might be expecting Swiftstar's kits."

Silverfinch purred, relieved. She then remembered that she had seen Swiftstar acting very kindly towards Sandstripe the past couple of moons. She wondered why she had been worried. It wouldn't have been against the code if Hawktalon and Sandstripe chose to become mates.

"Why do you want to keep it a secret?" Silverfinch asked as she tilted her head to the right slightly. She wondered if maybe, just like Doveflight's kits, Sandstripe's had been an accident.

Sandstripe purred and whispered, "I want to be a warrior as long as I can before I end up like Whitestream in the nursery for over six moons!" The sandy coloured she-cat then glanced over at Hawktalon. "Can we go now?" she asked.

Hawktalon nodded and both Silverfinch and Sandstripe followed him towards the border where they would start their patrol. As they walked along the border while keeping their jaws parted and their eyes peeled, they refreshed the markers quietly. Sandstripe rolled around in the growing green grass, Hawktalon rubbed his jaw along the trunks of trees, while she clawed at the trunks of trees that Hawktalon hadn't rubbed his muzzle along.

_This is so boring! _Silverfinch thought with a roll of her eyes. She lifted her head and parted her jaws, drawing in the warm new-leaf air. She scented a robin and crept through the undergrowth, trying to locate it. After a few heartbeats she heard rustling in the tree above her. She leapt up onto the tree's trunk with a huff before she used her claws to scramble her way up silently.

"Silverfinch, be careful!" She heard Sandstripe hiss from below but she didn't dare to look down. She knew that if she fell Lostsoul wouldn't be there to save her life again.

Silverfinch kept making her way up the tree trunk silently, narrowing her eyes at the robin on the edge of one of the branches. Her silver tabby tail waved back and forth impatiently until she reached the same branch. She crouched down, her hindquarters bunching up before she leapt and caught the robin's wing her jaws. She dug her claws into the branch frantically as the robin flapped around in a panic, causing her to lose her balance.

"Drop the bird!" Hawktalon yowled from below but Silverfinch didn't listen. She backed away quickly so she was in the dip where the tree branch and trunk met where she was safe from falling. She reared up onto her hind legs and placed her paws higher on the tree trunk to stretch out her back before she looked down and wondered how she would get down.

She dropped the robin once it had bled to death before she dug her claws into the tree trunk, face down. She took a deep breath before she took a step down, eventually running and then leaping safely to the ground.

"You do realize you could've fallen and broken something right?!" Hawktalon growled as he raced over, panting heavily. "How would I explain to the Clan that the only cat I've ever mentored fell to her doom?" The pale yellow tom looked down at his paws angrily.

Silverfinch moved closer to him and pressed against his side. "I've been hunting birds in trees for a while now!" She purred before she picked up her robin and trotted away, her tail held high proudly. She noticed Sandstripe sitting by the river that separated Silverstar's Clan from theirs.

"Can I talk to you Silverfinch?" Sandstripe meowed with a faint purr. She nodded and settled down on the river shore beside Sandstripe. She sunk her claws into the ground remembering the time she had fallen in when she had been with Lostsoul trying to fish. She placed her robin between her paws with a small yawn.


	17. Chapter 16

"Do you think Whitestream will want to take the kits back to StreamClan with her?" Sandstripe asked as she looked up from the slow, silent flowing water. Silverfinch shrugged and wondered why Sandstripe would even really care, besides the fact that they were supposed to be future TreeClan warriors.

"I don't want," Sandstripe cut herself off, her voice cracking nervously. "I don't want my kits to grow up without denmates that they can trust as they grow older but at the same time I don't think the foster kits would want to grow up to be warriors without a mother watching them."

Silverfinch winced and gulped before she murmured, "Just like me and Braveleap." She leapt to her paws and meowed, "I'm going to go back to camp and talk to Whitestream." She bent her head down and grabbed the dead robin between her paws before she raced back to camp swiftly and into the nursery.

"We need to talk Whitestream, if that's alright."

The old queen lifted her head from her paws and pricked her ears. She had her tail wrapped around her four foster kits, the four of them complaining loudly.

"Can we please go outside?" Owlkit mewed loudly as he leapt out from under Whitestream's tail. His dark tabby fur was long and thick, making him look bigger than his siblings.

"Fine you little mouse-brains," Whitestream hissed out of frustration. "But stay close to the entrance!" The light silver tabby sat up quietly and meowed, "What is it Silverfinch?"

Silverfinch moved closer to Whitestream as the four kits trotted out of the den excitedly. "My, haven't they grown?" she purred, amused. It had been around four moons since she and Doveflight had left to the barn and she had had her kits. The kits were strong now, and still thought that Whitestream was their birthmother.

"Yes but, is everything okay?" Whitestream asked.

Silverfinch nodded gently and meowed, "I just wanted to know what your plans are. They are going to be apprentices in a couple moons and they eat fresh-kill just like the rest of us. Do you know if you'll be returning to StreamClan?"

Whitestream looked down at her paws silently. Silverfinch guessed she hadn't thought about leaving because her only living kits, even if she hadn't borne them, lived in TreeClan rightfully.

"Maybe you can stay?" Silverfinch asked. She didn't want her to leave either because ever since she had come to TreeClan to care for Doveflight's kits, she had felt like she had a mother again.

"How could I do that? Silverstar is probably awaiting my return and Swiftstar probably wonders why he is still giving me TreeClan mice to eat." Whitestream looked down at her paws and meowed, "As much as I want to stay, this will never be my home."

Silverfinch sighed and sat down in front of the queen. "Please don't go. It kills me to have lost my mother before I even became a warrior every single day. If you leave, the kits will feel hopeless as apprentices, and even warriors. You said yourself that you are an old she-cat," She looked down at her paws and continued, "You could stay and become an elder here in TreeClan."

Whitestream stood up and began to pace back and forth thoughtfully. After a little while the old tabby she-cat turned to face Silverfinch and meowed, "You and the kits are like my own and I love it here in TreeClan. I've gotten used to the smell of oak and the taste of squirrels and you're all so kind to me…" The she-cat seemed to look over Silverfinch's shoulder and towards the entrance of the den where the kits were playing just outside loudly.

Silverfinch looked over her shoulder where Whitestream was looking and watched the kits. They were wrestling while laughing and giggling loudly. Silverfinch purred and wondered if she would ever have kits, preferably with Lostsoul. She shook the thought from her head before she turned back to Whitestream with gentle eyes.

"I think I'll stay Silverfinch," Whitestream purred gently. "It would only be fair to the kits. But who will tell Silverstar and my Clan?"

Silverfinch let the tip of her tail rest on Whitestream's shoulder comfortingly. "I'll go talk to Swiftstar first and then I'll get Doveflight to come with me to your camp. I'll tell any patrols that we run into that you sent us." She then turned and padded out of the den, not even bothering to wait for an answer.

"Silverfinch!" Acornkit mewed as she waddled over on her tiny little legs and purred, her huge ears almost larger than her head. "Can you teach us to hunt?"

Silverfinch _mrrowed _in laughter and bent down so she could look the kits in their little beady eyes. "Maybe when I get back but I have some important warrior duties to do right now." She stood up straight to turn and head towards Swiftstar's den when she heard Patchkit mew, "Can we come with you? We want to be warriors!" Silverfinch simply shook her head from side to side.

"This trip might be a little too dangerous for you kits. Besides, you are still too young to leave camp. But when I get back I promise I will teach you how to hunt, alright?" Silverfinch purred as the kits cheered excitedly before they darted into the nursery to be nuisances to Whitestream once more.

Silverfinch went over to Swiftstar's den and meowed, "Swiftstar can I talk to you?" She crawled through the brambles and watched as the muscular, battle scarred, brown tabby and white tom approached her. "What is it Silverfinch?" Silverfinch sat down and wrapped her tail neatly around her paws, just as her mother always had.

"Whitestream wants to stay and become an elder of TreeClan once the kits are apprenticed," she informed him respectively. "So with your permission for her to stay, I would like to go over to StreamClan with Doveflight to talk to Silverstar." She looked at him and hoped he would agree and look past the fact that they already had cats that didn't have TreeClan blood within the Clan.

"I don't know Silverfinch, most of TreeClan is already made up of cats that don't even have TreeClan blood! Foxtail is half Clan half kittypet, the kits are kittypets, Sandstripe and Smokecloud are DarkClan cats, and—"

Silverfinch stopped him with a flick of her tail. "And Braveleap and I are kittypets." For once in her life, she now understood why every cat she ever met would call her a kittypet. She desperately wanted to tell them that Foxtail was still a lot like Bravestar, that the kits were actually Clan cats because their birth parents was Hawktalon and Doveflight, and that Sandstripe and Smokecloud were actually loners, not really from any Clan. She also wanted to mention that he, the leader, was having kits with Sandstripe who wasn't of Clan blood.

Swiftstar's eyes widened as he meowed, trying to fix his words, "That's not what I meant Silverfinch, you're a great warrior. I'm sorry and if you really think that it would be best for Whitestream to stay in TreeClan, go talk to Silverstar."

Silverfinch purred happily and nuzzled her leader's shoulder gently. "Thank you!" She then turned and raced over to Doveflight's den calling her excitedly. "We have to go talk to Silverstar and see if Whitestream can stay and be the kits' mother for good!" Doveflight came out of her den with dull eyes and she guessed she was still grieving because her kits couldn't be her own.

"I'm sorry…" Silverfinch murmured and pressed her muzzle to her friend's gently. "But it's what's best for them and you want the best for them don't you?" She watched as the pale brown, grey flecked, she-cat nodded before she led her out of camp and to the stream that separated StreamClan and TreeClan.

"Be careful Silverfinch please." Doveflight murmured before Silverfinch leapt onto the first stepping stone. The water was higher than it had been during leaf-bare when she had fallen in. The current was strong and the water was brushing over the stepping stones, soaking her paws. She leapt to the next stepping stone, nearly slipping and plunging into the water.

"Be careful!" Doveflight meowed tensely from the other side of the river. Silverfinch flicked her tail in acknowledgment before she leapt onto the other stepping stones one by one. The last stepping stone was strangely far away from the shore and she would need to jump far in order to make it across safely.

Silverfinch bent her hind legs and took a deep breath before she leapt off the stepping stone, reaching out her forelegs. She hooked her claws into the ground as half her body made it on the shore, her hindquarters in the water being pushed by the strong current. She thrashed her hind legs against the water until she was able to pull herself safely up onto shore, panting heavily.

She took a moment to groom her silver tabby coat dry while she watched Doveflight carefully jump from stepping stone to stepping stone until she reached shore, her long slender body allowing her to jump to shore without falling half-way in the water.

"For a moment there I thought I was going to have to save you from the current." Doveflight meowed as she nudged Silverfinch to her paws with a purr. Silverfinch rolled her eyes playfully before she got up and headed towards the camp where she remembered it to be moons ago when she had first come with Swiftstar and Doveflight.

As they found the camp entrance they walked silently into camp, looking around nervously. Silverfinch arched her back in front of Doveflight, ready to defend herself and her friend as Sandfur and two other StreamClan warriors raced over angrily.

"What do you think you're doing in here?!" Sandfur spat as she moved closer to Silverfinch, lifting her paw with unsheathed claws.

Silverfinch didn't flinch instead she just stood tall and looked Sandfur straight in

Her eyes. "We are here to see Silverstar about Whitestream," she meowed in annoyance. "And by the way, you might want to send out bigger and better patrols because apparently no one could scent us coming through your territory." She then brushed past the StreamClan deputy and padded towards Silverstar who was heading towards them.

"What seems to be the problem here Silverfinch?" Silverstar meowed as she looked her in her eyes. It seemed every cat did that nowadays.

She shook her head and meowed, "We need to talk about Whitestream, if that's okay." She then followed Silverstar as she led her and Doveflight to her den.

"Whitestream has decided that she wants to stay in TreeClan and watch the kits grow as warriors." Silverfinch mewed calmly, not sure how the leader would react. "She doesn't want the kits to have a life like Braveleap and I, becoming warriors without a mother there in the crowd."

Silverstar wrapped her tail around her paws neatly and meowed, "I see." The silver furred she-cat looked Silverfinch in her eyes again. "Isn't your Clan afraid of being called weak, and aren't you afraid the other Clans will attack your Clan because you are thought of as weak?"

Silverfinch looked down at her paws in thought. Sometimes she had wondered what the other Clans thought of them ever since she and Braveleap had been born but she had never thought that the Clans would attack them because of it. She then realized that that was probably the reason DarkClan had attacked without a clear or intelligent reason.

"Maybe, but we are all the same on the inside. Besides, if we train the loners and even the kittypets right we could be the best and strongest Clan in the forest, regardless of our blood." Silverfinch protested respectively, trying to defend her Clan the best she could. She looked back at Doveflight and noticed that she was shuffling her paws nervously, looking around the den with wide eyes.

"Then very well," Silverstar murmured as she groomed her chest fur with her tongue. "Whitestream can stay in your Clan, she's older now and since we have other elders she won't be much use to our Clan." The silver furred she-cat stood up and meowed, "She'll be better appreciated in the Clan that will be saved I'm sure."

Silverfinch felt Doveflight's gaze rest on her and looked at her paws with a gulp. She remembered how Whitestream had told her that she had and would continue to save TreeClan. She wondered if all the other Clans except for TreeClan knew it. She shook the thoughts from her head and meowed, "TreeClan owes you many favours Silverstar, and we will be leaving your territory now."

"Silverfinch," Doveflight whispered as Silverfinch padded away from Silverstar. "Have you gotten any other clues from Rootpath or Cloudwhisper?"

Silverfinch pricked her ears, surprised that she would bring that up while they were still in Silverstar's den. She brushed past her friend and led her out of camp, towards the river where it would be safer to speak.

"I haven't Doveflight, why do you ask? You know I would've told you by now if I had." Silverfinch mewed softly before she narrowed her eyes at the river which was now running noisily as the water brushed up over the stepping stones uneasily.

"Well," she began, her eyes full of discomfort. "Eaglekit came to me in a dream and he had been standing with three cats, shadows almost."

Silverfinch tilted her head to the side and flattened her ears against her head in confusion. "Do you think they are StarClan cats," she asked. "Or worse?"

Doveflight shrugged and sat down, her eyes wide with alarm and confusion. "The Dark Forest cats haven't existed within the forest for many moons way before Bravestar himself was even born." The medicine cat glanced over towards the river. "And we shouldn't assume they'll return just because I had kits. Let's get back to camp."

Silverfinch nodded before she slowly made her way across the river while thinking about what Doveflight had said. She had only heard about Dark Forest cats once in her life when she had been about three moons old. Her mother had told her that she had heard stories about when the Dark Forest had attacked StreamClan for their kindness. Her mother had told her that they had wanted to take over the Clan and slowly take over the entire forest. It had made no sense and still didn't considering they were basically evil versions of StarClan cats.

Silverfinch leapt onto the last stepping stone and shivered as the cool water swept high over the rocks and over her paws, just barely touching her belly fur. She bent her hind legs and took a deep breath before she leapt easily onto her Clan's shore, it being closer than the other side where she guessed that StreamClan just swam across. She took a moment to lap up the water that dripped from her paws before she led Doveflight back to camp silently.

"Can Whitestream stay?!" Acornkit and Timberkit meowed as they raced towards the camp entrance just as Doveflight and Silverfinch returned. Silverfinch watched as Doveflight padded away knowing it probably killed her to have to look her forbidden kits in the eyes from time to time.

"Yes she can little ones." Silverfinch answered them kindly as she looked at them. Acornkit's soft, light brown tabby fur was puffed up with excitement. She had wide dark hazel eyes that glowed joyfully and proudly for some reason but Silverfinch couldn't guess why. Timberkit looked completely different from her sister. She had sleek blue fur, a thin tail, and dark blue eyes along with a small patch of white that was almost unnoticeable. It almost looked as if they weren't even related but then Silverfinch noticed that they had the same look of joy and pride in their eyes.

"Yeah!" Acornkit cheered before she spun around in a circle excitedly. "I hope I become an apprentice soon!" The light brown tabby she-kit looked at her sister and meowed, "I think I would love Silverfinch to be my mentor, wouldn't you?"

The sleek blue she-cat nodded her huge head that seemed too big for her body. "Whitestream said that she has saved the Clan, and will save it again! I want to save the Clan, just like her!"

Silverfinch purred, embarrassed and amused. She couldn't believe that Whitestream had raised them to be so proud of her and be such big fans.

"You know who's a really great warrior?" she asked. "Swiftstar, you should go pester him now." She nuzzled the kits on the top of their heads before she trotted over to the fresh-kill pile where Lostsoul was lying down, letting the sunlight soak into his black fur.

"Shouldn't you be resting your paw? You can't be running back and forth between the warriors' den and the fresh-kill pile if you want it to heal." Silverfinch meowed teasingly before she lied down beside him and licked his cheek lovingly.

"A tom can't sit in the shadows forever." Lostsoul whispered as he glanced down at his slowly healing broken paw. Silverfinch wondered if it would ever heal, and if it would even heal properly after injuring it more by jumping into the river after she had fallen in.

Silverfinch nodded and rubbed her head against his jaw gently. She rested her paws over his good leg and began to groom his cheek, purring softly. Ever since they had become warriors they had been closer than any cat had ever imagined which made her extremely happy, even if she had lost her brother for good.

"So Whitestream is staying?" Swiftstar asked as he padded towards them, his eyes glowing happily as he watched them snuggle up beside each other. Silverfinch nodded gently and meowed, "Silverstar said that she would be more helpful around here in TreeClan than in StreamClan."

Silverfinch remembered how high the river water had been and knew that she had to report it. "The river is rising over the stones and it'll be dangerous by sundown. No cat should go there alone." She watched as Swiftstar nodded his head in acknowledgement and purred proudly.

"Look at you, being a warrior and stuff." Lostsoul meowed as he leaned closer to her and nuzzled her neck gently. Silverfinch purred even louder and nuzzled him back. "I'm just doing my duty fur ball." She heard mewling over by the nursery and looked over with pricked ears. She watched as Patchkit, Timberkit, Owlkit, and Acornkit leapt and pounced at each other playfully and sighed.

She remembered when she had been about their age, leaping and pouncing at Braveleap. She had always lost but never cared because she always kept trying. She had eventually tackled him one day as apprentices and that's when she learned that the best warriors grew with time.

Acornkit raced over, interrupting Silverfinch's thoughts. "Can you play moss ball with us?" The light brown tabby she-kit had wide, begging green eyes that Silverfinch couldn't resist.

"Maybe if Lostsoul wants to let me go for a while." Silverfinch purred, holding back her laughter. She glanced at Lostsoul who nodded his head and moved away a bit to let her stand up. She trotted over to the rest of the kits with Acornkit by her side.


	18. Chapter 17

"Silverfinch here!" Patchkit mewed loudly as the small white she-kit batted a ball of mass towards her with her large forepaw. Silverfinch leapt up and batted the moss ball even higher into the air when it came towards her, landing with a playful crouch. She waited until the moss ball came towards her again and wacked it with her tail, giggling playfully.

"You're good." Owlkit murmured, the tom acting shier than usual. Silverfinch thanked him softly before whispering, "Is everything okay Owlkit?" The dark brown tabby kit looked down at his paws and mewed, "I just hope I can be a great warrior like you and Lostsoul even though Whitestream says I am a kittypet. Whitestream told me that kittypets usually aren't very good warriors."

Silverfinch narrowed her eyes at Owlkit and frowned, wondering why Whitestream would've told him such an awful thing, especially since he wasn't even actually a kittypet. She crouched down so she could speak to only him, "Has any cat ever told you that my parents were kittypets and that Lostsoul was actually born a loner?" She watched as the kit shook his large head and purred. "Well, it's the truth."

"You mean, I can become the best warrior ever?" Owlkit mewed, purring faintly as he lifted his head and puffed out his chest fur. "Just like you?"

Silverfinch shuffled her paws in embarrassment and meowed, "Yes, if you really think I'm the best warrior." She leaned closer to the kit and whispered into his ear, "You can even become a better warrior than me if you really try hard enough." She watched as Owlkit sped off over to the moss ball that had just hit the floor and purred. She guessed that from then on the young tom would actually try hard to become a great warrior.

Owlkit reminded her a lot of Braveleap with his dark pelt, well-built body and hazel eyes that could intimidate any enemy. The only difference was that Owlkit was kinder to her and that he actually appreciated her and Lostsoul, the both of them together.

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey please gather underneath the highrock!" Silverfinch heard Swiftstar yowl and she leapt to her paws with a start. Either she had slept in, or the entire Clan had woken up way too early.

Silverfinch ran her paw over her ears a few times and shook the moss from her pelt before she raced out to gather with the rest of the Clan. She sat down between Lostsoul and Braveleap, Lostsoul welcoming her kindly with a gentle nuzzle while Braveleap only glared at her.

"Acornkit, Owlkit, Timberkit, and Patchkit have reached the age of six moons." Swiftstar announced loudly. Silverfinch purred and realized that the four kits were already six moons old. It had almost felt like just last moon that she had helped Doveflight give birth to them in the barn.

Silverfinch suddenly felt some cat sit beside her and looked down between her and Braveleap thinking that Owlkit was there for some strange reason. She gasped when no cat was there and wondered if maybe Eaglekit was sitting and watching his siblings become apprentices, just as he rightfully would be as if he was still alive.

"Acornkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Acornpaw. Your mentor will be Smokecloud. I hope she will pass down all she knows on to you. Smokecloud, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from your former mentor, and you have shown yourself to be independent and clever. You will be the mentor of Acornpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."

Silverfinch watched as Acornpaw bounded over to Smokecloud and touched noses with her. She purred and glanced back over to where Eaglekit sat even though she couldn't see him and wondered if it hurt him terribly to not be able to become an apprentice and then a warrior like his litter-mates.

"Owlkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is now time for you to become an apprentice. From this moment on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Owlpaw. Your mentor will be Silverfinch, and I know that she certainly will pass down all she knows to you. Silverfinch, you are ready for your first apprentice. You received excellent training from Hawktalon, and you have shown yourself to be courageous, loyal, and wise."

Silverfinch's heart raced as Owlpaw moved towards her excitedly and she couldn't have asked for any other cat to be her apprentice. She touched her nose to Owlpaw's and watched as the young dark brown tabby tom sat where she had felt Eaglekit, but no longer did. She sat and listened quietly as both Timberkit and Patchkit received their apprenticeships.

"Timberkit, you have reached the age of six moons as well, and it is time for you to be named an apprentice. Until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Timberpaw. Your mentor will be Foxtail and I hope she can pass down her knowledge onto you. Foxtail, you are ready for your first apprentice. You have the great blood of Bravestar and have been nothing but brave and full of energy since you came and joined the Clans."

The bright red tabby she-cat and young blue she-cat touched noses gently and sat side by side, shaking excitedly. They seemed to be a perfect pair.

"Last but not least, Patchkit," Swiftstar meowed with a purr. "You have also reached the age of six moons just like your litter-mates and it is time for you to receive your apprenticeship. Until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Patchpaw. Your mentor will be Braveleap and I would like nothing more but for him to pass down what I taught him to you. Braveleap, please teach Patchpaw everything I taught you as you have shown yourself to be a quick learner and an intelligent young tom."

Silverfinch sighed as Braveleap and Patchpaw touched noses and wondered if Braveleap would turn her to believe that she was a foolish mouse-brain just as he thought of her. She wondered if Patchpaw would then turn on Owlpaw and rip their kinship apart.

"Now that the kits have become apprentices I just have one more ceremony I would like to perform." Swiftstar announced. Silverfinch looked around in wonder, trying to guess which ceremony would be performed.

"Whitestream, you have requested to stay in the nursery and help Sandstripe with our kits, is that correct?"

Silverfinch remembered how Sandstripe had told her around two moons ago that she was expecting Swiftstar's kits. She guessed that the entire Clan had grown to know and that Swiftstar wasn't afraid to speak about it. She then looked ahead and at Whitestream who sat up front, her head held high and proud. Even though it wasn't an original ceremony, she was glad that the she-cat was still proud.

"Yes Swiftstar." Whitestream answered.

"We will forever honour you and your endless service that will not end now. Go and live the rest of your days in the nursery, surrounded by future warriors of our Clan."

Silverfinch stood up just like the rest of the Clan when their leader had finally dismissed the Clan meeting. She shouted out Acornpaw's name, Owlpaw's name, Timberpaw's name, Patchpaw's name, and Whitestream's name a couple of times before she walked towards the camp entrance to wait for Owlpaw. She wanted to take him out and show him the territory as soon as she possibly could so they could start training the next day.

"Hello Silverfinch, can Timberpaw and I tag along?" Foxtail meowed as she and her new apprentice walked over with wide glowing eyes.

Silverfinch guessed that Foxtail, because she had been a kittypet most of her life, was not completely confident that she could show Timberpaw the territory properly without messing up. She nodded and meowed, "Of course."

She watched as Owlpaw and Timberpaw talked together excitedly and purred, wishing she could be that close to Braveleap again. She then led the three of them to the edge of the border between BreezeClan and TreeClan just as Hawktalon had with her many moons ago.

"This is the border," Silverfinch meowed. "When you go on border patrols you'll have to keep your eyes open, your ears pricked, and your mouths open to taste the air for scents. You also have to refresh the scent markers so strange cats and creatures won't come into our territory."

"Wow," Timberpaw meowed as she rubbed up against a tree trunk and rolled around in a patch of clover. "I never thought being outside of camp would be so fun!"

Silverfinch purred and sat down with pricked ears, neatly wrapping her silver tabby tail around her paws. "While we are here, can you young ones scent any prey?" She looked at Foxtail who was looking up at the sky nervously and pressed against her to comfort her.

"You can be a great mentor Foxtail, you just need to be more confident in yourself," she whispered.

Silverfinch watched as Foxtail nodded and padded over to Timberpaw who was walking around in circles with her jaws parted.

"Silverfinch!" Owlpaw whispered. Silverfinch walked over to him slowly and replied with a worried, "Yes?" She tasted the air and drew in an awful mouse-like scent. She turned her head to see that a small decaying grey creature was lying down beside the bush near them. She growled and flicked her tail in front of Owlpaw signalling for him to stay back, away from the piece of crow-food.

"Is that a mouse? Can we eat it?" Owlpaw asked curiously, nuzzling her tail away from his muzzle.

Silverfinch narrowed her eyes at the crow-food and growled, "No." She padded closer towards it and snarled. "Crow-food is inedible and it can seriously make a cat sick. Young cats like you or Timberpaw have probably died from eating this kind of stuff. Keep in mind though that those cats were probably weaker than you two, but it doesn't change the fact that it is gross."

Owlpaw stood beside her, staring at the crow-food with wide eyes. "What do we do?" Silverfinch began to explain to him as she dug a hole, just deep enough for the crow-food to be buried in.

"We bury it and try to figure out why it even exists in the first place. If there is some crazy cat or fox running around killing prey for fun, they could be a danger to our Clan." Silverfinch grabbed a nearby stick and shoved the stiff dead mouse that looked to be torn to shreds into the hole. She tossed the stick away and kicked as much dirt as she could over it so no cat would be harmed.

"I never knew the forest could be so dangerous," Owlpaw mewed as he looked at the pile of dirt. "Are you sure being a warrior is safe?" He sunk back and dug his small claws into the ground.

Silverfinch looked down at Owlpaw and meowed, "Being a warrior is only safe if you can protect yourself and the others around you. When you become a warrior Owlpaw, you promise to protect your Clan even if it means you have to face death. For example, if a fox were to leap out of the bushes right now I would have to attack and give up my life to protect you, Timberpaw, and Foxtail."

"That must be why you're the greatest warrior!" Owlpaw purred as he crouched down and snarled at the pile of dirt. Silverfinch let out an _mrrow _of laughter and nodded gently.

"Maybe."

She gathered the group together and led them along the border, stopping to scent the air every so often.

The four of them got back to camp before the sky began to turn a dark blue. Owlpaw and Timberpaw both carried the rabbit they had caught together towards the fresh-kill pile while Foxtail vanished into the warriors' den.

Silverfinch heard some cat calling her name excitedly and turned to see Smokecloud standing in front of her, panting heavily.

"Is something wrong Smokecloud, do we have an intruder?"

She gasped, surprised when the smoky grey she-cat told her that while all the mentors and apprentices had been out that Sandstripe had given birth to two beautiful kits.

"May I see them?" Silverfinch asked and purred as the two of them headed over to the nursery. She slipped in between the brambles and padded over to Sandstripe who was looking down at her two newborn kits. Both Swiftstar and Whitestream were sitting behind her, looking at them silently with wide loving eyes.

The first kit was a calico she-kit and had her father's long furry tail while the second kit was a pale red tom who also had his father's long furry tail. He had a white muzzle and tail tip.

"They are absolutely beautiful Sandstripe, congratulations." Silverfinch whispered as she sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws. "Have you decided what you would like to name them?"

Sandstripe dipped her head respectfully and thankfully to her before she meowed, "The she-kit will be known as Hazelkit and the tom Sablekit." She then leaned over to lick her kits over their heads before she rested her head on her paws.

Silverfinch watched the kits suckle for a moment and purred before she turned and left the nursery. For a few heartbeats she stood outside the nursery, wondering if she would ever have kits. She wondered if her kits would be just as beautiful as Hazelkit and Sablekit or if they would bring joy to her life as they did theirs.

"I see you've met the new kits." Lostsoul meowed as he padded over quietly, his long black tail flicking around in the air above him. Silverfinch purred and rubbed herself against him, remembering that his leg had healed.

Doveflight had told her that even though Lostsoul's leg had healed strangely that he could still hunt and fight like a normal cat, as long as he didn't push it too much.

"My mother was right when she said that the Clan would become bigger and stronger as I grew up." Silverfinch meowed gently and looked back towards the nursery as they headed for the warriors' den. She had remembered how she had spent six short moons in the nursery dreaming to be a warrior just like her brother, but now she wished she could just cuddle back up beside her mother.

The next sunrise Silverfinch woke up and headed straight to the fresh-kill pile, knowing that she had to do some training with Owlpaw. She was so used to hanging around camp and chatting with the other warriors until she was called to do a patrol but now she had to spend most of her time teaching Owlpaw everything he needed to know while also doing multiple patrols whenever she could so she would appear to be a good role model.

Silverfinch picked a vole from the fresh-kill pile and groomed herself while taking a bite every few moments. Once she had finished she thanked StarClan for her pleasant meal before she kicked dirt over the remains and headed towards the camp entrance where she would wait for Owlpaw.

After waiting for a while she began to wonder where her apprentice was. She walked over to the apprentices' den and headed inside, Foxtail, Smokecloud, and Braveleap coming in behind her. She saw that the four apprentices were still asleep in their nests and sighed. She let out a high-pitched yowl, sure to wake them up.

"What the?!" Acornpaw meowed as she leapt to her paws, arching her back in fear. Her litter-mates did the same shortly after, their eyes wide and alarmed.

"Your apprentices now," Silverfinch scolded them. "You have to wake up at a proper time now. You can't sleep in while every other cat does their jobs." She looked back at the three cats behind her who were slowly nodded with frustrated looks written on their faces, especially Braveleap who was probably extremely angry about having to agree with her.

"Sorry Silverfinch," Owlpaw mewed. "Let's go right away."

Silverfinch nodded gently and led her apprentice out of the camp and towards the training clearing where all her youthful memories flooded back. She remembered her own long and tiring training sessions.

"We are going to see what you know so far, which can't be much since Whitestream never let you watch the warriors practice their fighting techniques." Silverfinch meowed. She crouched into a stalking position. "It's good to do this and be sneaky while fighting, or else the enemy will defend itself."

She watched as Owlpaw did the same as she did and narrowed her eyes at him. She watched as he looked towards her shoulder and dropped to the ground when he pounced towards her, rolling over and leaping onto her own paws. She spun around just as Owlpaw landed onto the ground with a thud and leapt onto his back, pinning him down with one paw.

"Whoa, how did you do that?" Owlpaw mewed excitedly as he threw himself upward, trying to push her off.

Silverfinch leapt off Owlpaw's back and meowed, "I watched your eyes." She sat down and groomed the dirt from her forepaws. "You were looking at my shoulders, so that's how I knew to drop to the ground and duck. If you had been looking between my paws I probably would've leapt out of your way."

"Oh!" Owlpaw exclaimed as he crouched down again. "Let me try again."

Silverfinch examined his crouch and meowed, "You must get the crouch right first as it is crucial for both fighting and hunting." She placed her muzzle on his back and murmured, "Make sure it's straight."

Owlpaw lowered his back and relaxed his head and tail so he was crouching perfectly. Silverfinch then stepped back so he could try and attack her again, even if she would be able to shove him off easily.

The dark brown tabby apprentice narrowed his eyes between her legs and Silverfinch bent her legs, ready to pounce upward to avoid Owlpaw's attack. The apprentice leapt up into the air just as Silverfinch did, causing them to collide and fall to the ground in a mixture of small surprised yowls.

"Good," Silverfinch panted as she looked at Owlpaw. "Now that you have that down, the rest should be just a matter of remembering." She backed away, leapt forward, and spun around, putting all her weight on her forepaws as she lashed her hind legs out in the air so her hind paws batted over Owlpaw's face.

Owlpaw stood there, wide-eyed and curious. "What was that?!" Silverfinch purred and moved towards him.

"That was a back kick. It's a pretty sneaky move and can really surprise your opponent." She stepped back a couple of paw steps and meowed, "You basically have to spin around and put all your weight on your forepaws while you kick your back ones. Try."

Owlpaw nodded and Silverfinch watched as he darted towards her. He spun around, immediately putting all his weight on his forepaws and kicked his hind ones into the air. Silverfinch winced when he fell forward onto his muzzle and padded over quickly when he landed on his back with a frustrated growl.

"You have to practice and find your own balance," she told him.

"The next one we'll learn is the belly rake." Silverfinch meowed before she rolled over onto her back, exposing her soft belly. "It's usually a fight stopper, but if it doesn't it gives you more control." She narrowed her eyes up at the bright sunhigh sky and meowed, "You just run your claws, or in this case sheathed claws, over the opponent's belly."

Owlpaw darted over and leapt, spreading his legs out in the air before he ran one of his soft paws over her belly without using any claws. Silverfinch purred and sat up as Owlpaw landed with a thud on her other side. She guessed that the young tom was having problems keeping his balance when he was landing.

"When you're in mid-air and ready to land, make sure that your tail is keeping you balanced. That's probably why you're landing unsteadily and scaring all the prey away while you are learning fighting techniques." Silverfinch leapt up high into the air just as she had since she was born and flicked out her tail, allowing her to land perfectly and silently, her paws spread evenly apart.

She watched as Owlpaw nodded and leapt up into the air, twisted around in a panic, and landed with a sharp yowl of pain on his side. She darted over to him and nudged him up so he was in a sitting position. She examined his side gently and meowed, "Looks like you hurt yourself," She looked up at the sky again and decided that maybe if they went back to camp now and Owlpaw rested until sunrise that he would be able to train sooner.

"Let's go back to camp."

When they got back to camp Silverfinch instructed for him to go see Doveflight and watched as he walked slowly over to her den. She then padded over to the fresh-kill pile where Lostsoul was rolled over on his back, embracing the sun's warmth. She watched as he rolled onto his stomach in alarm.

"It's just me fur ball," she teased before she settled down beside him. "Owlpaw grew tired so we decided to come back early. I have some extra time left so I thought maybe we could go hunting?" She looked him in his icy cold blue eyes and purred, always feeling somewhat comfortable around the familiar gaze.

"Yeah sure," he meowed as he carefully stood up on his four paws. Silverfinch winced, hoping that his leg wouldn't give out on him before she led him out of camp worriedly. She didn't want his leg to get any worse than it already was.

"Just promise me you won't go climbing trees," Lostsoul meowed with a teasing purr before he tilted his head back and parted his jaws. Silverfinch nudged his shoulder with her muzzle gently before she whispered, "I've gotten good so I won't be _falling_ out of any more trees." She tilted her head back and parted her jaws just as he had and drew in the warm, refreshing air.

A squirrel scattered between the bushes and leapt against the nearest tree trunk it could find. Silverfinch spun around silently and narrowed her eyes at the squirrel before she looked around quickly. She spotted a tree not too far from the one that the squirrel had begun to climb up and darted forward, leaping onto the trunk and clawing her way up. She climbed up until the squirrel was just below her, not noticing where she was. She could hear Lostsoul hissing below her, but she couldn't quite hear what he was saying.

She looked up at the bright sky and closed her eyes.

_Rootpath… if you can hear me, help me to catch this squirrel without falling to my doom. _

She shifted her haunches before she leapt into the air with outstretched forelegs. She bit her tongue to hold back a yowl as her stomach hit against one of the nearer branches of the tree the squirrel was hiding in. She swung herself around until she was able to stand up on the branch cautiously. She then snuck her way down towards the squirrel with wide eyes. She waited until she was close enough before she pounced again with outstretched claws.

She yowled painfully when she hit against a tree branch below but luckily had been able to snatch the squirrel and send it barrelling down to its death. For a moment she laid herself over the branch and drew in deep breathes, the wind having been knocked out of her. She sunk her claws into the tree branch when she finally got up and made her way down, running and leaping when she could.

Lostsoul raced over with angry and worried eyes, the red squirrel hanging limply from his jaws. He dropped it and growled, "You could've fallen Silverfinch! You could've died right in front of me, or in my paws!" The well-built black tom looked away, panting heavily almost as if he had been panicking.

Silverfinch winced before she shifted over to Lostsoul, her stomach hurting her terribly. She pressed herself against him and nuzzled his forehead gently. "I know you worry about me, but I didn't fall and at the same time got the squirrel."

Lostsoul pulled away from her and meowed, "You didn't get the squirrel, and it fell to its death! Just as you could have!" The tom nuzzled her gently and murmured, "If you die Silverfinch, I don't have a single reason to live."

Silverfinch shook her head and meowed, "That's not true, there would be other she-cats." She looked at Lostsoul as he shook his head and meowed, "No Silverfinch, because of you I became the cat I am today. Because of you, I am not like Braveleap."

Silverfinch picked up the squirrel in her jaws, not saying another word. She nuzzled him one last time before she turned and led him back to camp silently, not wanting to discuss her possible death moment anymore.

When they got back to camp they parted ways. Silverfinch headed towards the nursery with the plump juicy squirrel. She set it down beside Sandstripe's kits just as she had done with Whitestream when Owlpaw had been a kit, and watched the newborn kits as they sniffed the squirrel and mewed with wonder.

"This squirrel looks pretty fit, it must've been hard to catch it especially if it was running along the ground." Sandstripe purred as she looked up from her two kits. "Did you catch it alone?"

Silverfinch sat down and wrapped her tail neatly around her paws. "Well Lostsoul was with me, but I did most of the work. I actually had to climb one tree and jump to the next to catch it." She watched as Sandstripe looked at her in awe, confused.

"Why are so many cats surprised when I catch something from a tree?"

Sandstripe purred. "Well, only a few cats who have ever lived in the forest would be able to hunt birds and squirrels in trees like you do Silverfinch. And those cats were usually the best warriors and died in the most courageous ways. That's probably why the Clan appreciates you so much and looks up to you even more than Hawktalon or Swiftstar, because you're special."

Silverfinch shook her head from side to side and meowed, "But the other Clans say I'm just a kittypet, except for Silverstar." She glanced back at Whitestream who was watching her with a guilty look. "Right?"

She watched as Whitestream came towards her and pricked her ears intently when she whispered, "All of StreamClan knows about you Silverfinch and I think DarkClan and BreezeClan do too. I think that Tigerstar and Redstar and their Clans treat you the way they do, because they are intimidated by you. Silverstar treats you like kin because," she stopped and looked down at her paws.

Silverfinch moved away from them and opened her jaws to speak as she shook her head, but not a single word came out. _This can't be true, Cloudwhisper came to save the forest not me. I am just a kittypet, just like everyone says. I don't believe it, I can't believe it._

She flicked her tail goodbye before she turned and raced out of the den, running straight into Braveleap who leapt back with an angry hiss.

"Watch where you're going!"

Silverfinch rolled her eyes and shoved herself past him, heading over to Doveflight's den. When she got inside she noticed Doveflight prodding at Owlpaw's side with her forepaw, the dark brown tabby apprentice wincing in pain.

"Oh hello Silverfinch." Doveflight murmured as she looked up with pricked ears. For a heart beat Silverfinch thought that she was Rootpath but then realized that her voice was softer and kinder than Rootpath's voice had been.

"How's Owlpaw?" She asked, hoping the fall hadn't hurt him so much that he would have to stop training.

"Well," Doveflight began. "He's bruised his side and as long as he isn't in terrible pain at sunrise he should be okay to go out and train."

Silverfinch sighed, relieved, and sat down, relaxing herself as she wrapped her tail neatly around her paws. "That's good. I thought that maybe he had fallen too hard and wouldn't be able train at all." She glanced over at Owlpaw who was looking down at his paws, almost seeming upset that he had hurt himself.

"Is something wrong Owlpaw?" She asked before she walked closer to him curiously, wondering if he felt like a fool. She glanced up at Doveflight who dipped her head respectfully before she turned and trotted over to a pile of mixed herbs.

Owlpaw looked up at her and she noticed that his eyes were darker than hers, an apologetic look glazed over them.

"I scared you didn't I? I'm sorry, I guess I won't be the best warrior after all."

Silverfinch purred and sat beside her apprentice, wrapping her tail around him kindly. She nuzzled the top of his head and whispered into his ear, "I was like you Owlpaw when I was your age. I made small and random mistakes but I was also a fast learner. You will learn fast as long as you trust me when I say you just have to be confident with yourself."

She watched as her young apprentice purred and left the den with a thankful flick of his tail. She turned back to Doveflight and meowed, "Have you gotten _anything _from StarClan about Rootpath's message?"

It had been several moons since she had seen Rootpath, her mother, and Eaglekit in StarClan while she had been hunting. Rootpath had told her that the wandering eagle would exchange glances with the mouse and that a sparrow would be free. Doveflight had guessed that there would be an evil cat and a saviour, and that somehow they would relate.

Doveflight shook her head and looked down at her paws worriedly. Her brown fur ticked with grey looked messy as if she had been too stressed to groom herself.

"Is everything okay?" Silverfinch asked.

"Silverfinch, will I ever be able to tell my kits that I am their mother? Will I ever be able to groom their fur while they are still young? Will I ever be able to proudly watch them become warriors, just like any other she-cat who has amazing kits?"

"No," Silverfinch snapped quickly, her tail flicking side to side agitatedly. "Not unless you want the Clan to doubt you until your last moon." She stood up and whispered, "They have some great mentors, including me, and I'm sure they'll grow up to be fine warriors. They respect Whitestream as their mother and they don't complain about wanting to know who their real mother is."

She turned around and crawled through the den entrance before Doveflight could reply, not really wanting to talk too much about the topic. If Doveflight ever decided to tell Owlpaw that she was his real mother and he found out Silverfinch had known all along, how would Owlpaw ever trust her again?

Silverfinch blinked in surprise and narrowed her eyes at Hawktalon as he padded over and meowed, "You seem distracted." He nuzzled her shoulder gently with his pale yellow muzzle. "Is everything alright?"

She blinked as she looked at him and murmured, "Um yes, I'm just worried about Owlpaw that's all." She then brushed past him friendlily and headed towards the warriors' den to get some rest.

Silverfinch woke up uncomfortably when she felt a cat prodding at her side. She sat up and growled softly before her sight adjusted and she saw Owlpaw looking at her with glowing hazel eyes. She purred and meowed, "For a moment I thought you were Braveleap."

"Is that a good thing?" Owlpaw asked as he sat down and shuffled his paws around until his tail was wrapped awkwardly around his paws almost as if he was trying to be more like her.

Silverfinch reached out her forelegs and sunk her claws into the ground as she stretched. She shook out her silver tabby pelt before she meowed, "Sort of," She looked over towards where Braveleap was still heavily sleeping in his den. "You're built like him and will be good at fighting and hunting like him but I'm glad that you're not exactly like him. He's impatient and stubborn and wants everything his way."

Owlpaw was staring up at Silverfinch with wide eyes, his whiskers quivering gently in wonder. "I'm glad I'm not exactly like him." Silverfinch purred and bent her neck so she could nudge his head with hers. "Why don't we go do some training?"

With a swift nod of approval from Owlpaw the both of them left the den and shared a small mouse from the fresh-kill pile. They then left camp and went to the training clearing, which still brought back pleasant memories to her.

_"Silverpaw, show me how well you've mastered the back kick." Hawktalon meowed as he crouched down with a playful snarl, his brown eyes glowing happily in the leaf-bare sunlight. _

_ Silverpaw flicked her tail from side to side, her back arched. She darted forward before she spun around, slid in the snow and crashed into Hawktalon. The both of them lied down in the snow together, mrrowing_ _with laughter._

"Why don't we review what you've learned?" Silverfinch asked before she sat on the dry green-leaf ground, not a single noise in the forest. "Attack me."

She watched as Owlpaw crouched down perfectly, ready to pounce. She crouched down as well in case she needed to defend herself and waited patiently, her tail flicked from side to side.

The young brown tabby tom hurled himself towards her and leapt with outstretched paws, his eyes narrowed at her shoulders. Silverfinch dropped down towards the ground to try and dodge Owlpaw but instead of leaping over her he leapt on top of her and pinned her swiftly to the ground.

"When you have a bigger cat pinned down, sink your claws into their sides or shoulders to throw them off balance and keep them from throwing themselves upward. In our case though, you can just sink your claws into the ground around me." Silverfinch looked up at Owlpaw with a purr, happy that her apprentice was ready to learn again despite having hurt himself.

She watched as Owlpaw sunk his claws into the ground beside her shoulders before she swung herself upward to try and break free, but his grip was strong on the ground and keeping her down.

Silverfinch decided that she would use her strong hind legs and kicked upward, causing Owlpaw to gasp for air. She noticed that his grip had loosened on the ground and threw herself upward again, Owlpaw leaping back as she went to bat at him. She reared upwards on her hind legs and forced one of her forepaws down on the top of Owlpaw's head just hard enough to cause him to grow confused and fall backwards onto his tail.

"That was a front paw blow. You'll lose balance so do _not _try to leap at the cat and fight back. Back away hissing and spitting at your opponent for as long as you can until you are sure your balance is back, otherwise you could fall over and become vulnerable." Silverfinch backed away once she had finished explaining and flicked her tail, giving him permission to continue.

The apprentice stood crouching down on the ground looking slightly lost until he eventually groomed his chest fur and stood up straight.

"Show me how well you can belly rake." Silverfinch ordered gently and crouched down, lashing her tail from side to side playfully. Her eyes narrowed at him and she watched as he darted towards her and leapt into her side with his powerful body, causing her to stumble frantically onto the ground. She tried to find the placing of her paws and stand up but by then Owlpaw had already quickly pinned her down.

Silverfinch pressed her ears against her head and watched as her apprentice ran his soft paws against her belly with a soft force in a practice like manner. She then used all her force to shove him off of her and looked at the ground while panting quietly.

"Did I do well?" Owlpaw asked, his dark eyes round with wonder. His brown tabby tail flicked from side to side excitedly and his fur was prickled on his neck.

There was a loud rustling noise that made Silverfinch whip around and arch her back angrily. She sunk her claws into the ground and narrowed her eyes at the bush that was moving only a few fox-lengths away from her. She let herself relax, her heart racing, once she saw Braveleap and Patchpaw coming towards them with questioning looks.

"Patchpaw!" Owlpaw cheered loudly before he bounded towards her and pinned her down playfully. Silverfinch purred faintly for a few moments and watched as the two litter-mates played until Braveleap grabbed Owlpaw by the scruff and pulled him off of his apprentice with a growl.

Owlpaw twisted around in Braveleap's jaws and snapped, "Hey, put me down fur-brain!"


	19. Chapter 18

Silverfinch looked down at Patchpaw who was looking up at her mentor, shocked. She knew she had to do something then. She raced over to Braveleap and rammed into his side so he dropped Owlpaw and then turned to face her with a snarl.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Braveleap hissed in her face and Silverfinch could see the fur rising on his neck. She stood in front of Patchpaw and Owlpaw before she meowed, "I'm making sure you don't hurt my apprentice!" She flicked her tail towards Patchpaw and meowed, "You're scaring the fur off of her!"

Owlpaw crept close to Silverfinch and meowed, "Maybe we should just go hunting Silverfinch," He seemed to be shaking and staring up at Braveleap fearfully.

Silverfinch shook her head and pressed against her apprentice gently and comfortingly. "We are Clanmates and we have to learn to train and live together," She looked up and glared at Braveleap. "Even if that means some cats are going to be stubborn about it."

"Braveleap, can I train with Silverfinch and Owlpaw?" Patchpaw asked, staring up hopefully at Braveleap who was glaring down at her angrily. "You were complaining earlier about how you wanted to go out on the dawn patrol and sink your claws into some plump prey so maybe you could without me."

"No!" Braveleap snapped and Silverfinch watched as Patchpaw flinched. She couldn't believe that her brother was treating poor innocent Patchpaw the way he was and she couldn't believe the cat he had become. When she had been growing up in the nursery with him he had been bright and enthusiastic about everything, even about little things like a butterfly. Now he was stubborn and dull and he always looked so angry and frustrated.

Silverfinch stormed over to him and batted at his muzzle a couple of times with a strong force and sheathed claws. "Do you eat crow-food when you wake up or something?" she growled angrily and stood in front of Patchpaw once again. "If you think Patchpaw is ever going to become a good warrior while you're being such a stubborn mouse-brain, you are wrong!"

Braveleap narrowed his eyes at Silverfinch and growled, "You think you're so perfect don't you? Ever since Cloudwhisper was crushed by that tree cats have been calling you the chosen one, the cat who will save us all! Well you know what, I don't believe it. I think you're just trying to get the Clan to love you so _you _can sneak your way up to deputy and then leader!"

Silverfinch stepped back and pressed her ears against her head gently in shock. She sunk her claws into the ground to stop herself from clawing at his nose and looked down at them angrily. _Why is he bringing up our mother? Doesn't he know that I don't believe it either? Doesn't he know that every sunrise I wake up I remember our mother's death and wish I was a kit all over again?_

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me or are you going to take your puny apprentice and leave me to train Patchpaw?" Braveleap asked snootily, his eyes burning furiously.

_Stand up for yourself Silverfinch, just as you always have. No matter what he says about your mother, no matter what point he proves, prove yourself! _Silverfinch thought as she stared her brother in his eyes, the both of them snarling warningly.

"I'm staying here and training Owlpaw. You can stay if you want and try to get along with us, but that's your choice." Silverfinch spat before she looked down at Owlpaw and purred kindly. She led him to the other side of the training clearing and ignored the cold look she could feel Braveleap giving her from behind. She continued on training her apprentice and doing her job.

Owlpaw looked down at his paws and sighed, his tail lowered so it was dragging against the ground. "Does he always act like that?" he asked and Silverfinch could feel how confused, tense, and lost the young tom was.

_Eaglekit, please help Owlpaw and Patchpaw. It seems they've been affected harshly by Braveleap's behaviour and I'm afraid that they'll grow afraid of him and other warriors like him._

"He wasn't always like that." Silverfinch admitted painfully. "He used to be a very happy young tom like you but more outgoing. He would play with me when we were kits and protect me from ugly looking moths." She looked back at Braveleap with drooped ears and sighed.

"What happened?"

"Well Owlpaw," Silverfinch began. "We had a hard life, harder than any other. Our mother came to the forest as a kittypet and had us in this forest, we were called kittypets, doubted, and our mother died before we became warriors. We grew up feeling unimportant even though neither of us ever showed it or admitted it. When cats started to believe I was important and that I would save the forest as long as I lived, he grew upset I guess."

"Wow." Owlpaw breathed and he sat down with his tail wrapped awkwardly around his paws. "I can promise you something though."

"Hm?"

"I'll never be like Braveleap. I'll always love my litter-mates no matter what any cat says even if we are kittypets or Whitestream goes away."

She felt a claw of pain stab at her heart and looked down at her paws with a sigh of both relief and sadness. She wished she could tell her apprentice everything about his real kin, Doveflight and Hawktalon, and that he was in fact not a kittypet at all but she knew that if she did, no good would come of it.

"Thank you Owlpaw, but only actions will prove your words." Silverfinch mewed before she nuzzled Owlpaw's shoulder gently with her muzzle. "I'm kind of tired, why don't we hunt a little and then get back to camp?"

Owlpaw nodded and the two left the clearing, chatting quietly about random topics as they hunt.

Silverfinch felt the moss underneath her prick and prod at her and sat up with a loud yawn. She blinked her eyes slowly and looked around the den, realizing the sun had not risen yet. She glanced over at Lostsoul who had his back facing her as he groomed himself quietly and purred, realizing she hadn't really hung around him for quite a while.

"Lostsoul," she meowed as she stood up and shifted towards him carefully. She lied down beside him and pressed her nose to her cheek when she felt him growl softly. She stood up quickly and looked around her paws, wondering if she had stepped on his tail. She looked back up at him and shrieked when she noticed that his eyes were crimson red and he had tears of blood rolling down the sides of his face.

"Hide your feelings, for they may end you." He spoke before he vanished and the den grew to be silent nothingness.

Silverfinch felt fear prick at her and she shivered slightly. She looked over to where Braveleap was curled up in his nest and pushed into his side with her paw. "Braveleap, something happened, wake up!" She watched as her brother sat up and then shrieked again in fear when he turned his head all the way around, his eyes too red and crying blood. She backed away slowly as he said the same words and vanished away, wondering what was going on.

"Silverfinch, what's wrong?" Hawktalon meowed from behind her and she turned around to see Hawktalon's kind, deep brown eyes staring at her. She hurried over to him and rubbed her head against his jaw. She finally felt safe and welcomed.

"Braveleap and Lostsoul were injured I think and they said something and then they disappeared!" Silverfinch wailed and looked down at her paws, not realizing that Hawktalon's eyes were turning a dark red until she felt drops of blood drip onto her paws.

Silverfinch looked up at her former mentor who was looking down at her evilly. He raised his paw to slash at her with unsheathed claws but within that same heartbeat she woke up with a yowl in the same warriors' den that she had been sleeping in for several moons now.

Lostsoul darted over and began licking her over the ears worriedly. Silverfinch flinched and backed away, scattering the moss below her. She didn't look up, afraid that she would see the dark crimson red eyes she had before. She sunk her claws into the ground and growled, "Leave me alone, I don't care about what you have to say! I didn't do anything to you!"

"I know," Lostsoul whispered as he ran his slim black tail along her side gently. Silverfinch glanced up at his face and sighed, relieved, when she saw his familiar and friendly icy cold blue eyes staring at her lovingly. She pressed against him and felt herself shake, the bloody eyes still stuck in her mind.

"What happened Silverfinch?" Lostsoul asked but Silverfinch didn't reply with words. She just shook her head and sunk her claws into the ground again because she didn't want to talk about it. It would only stir up more frightening emotions for her. She backed away from him and meowed, "A bad dream, that's all." She then turned and raced out of the den, yowling softly in panic when she crashed into Hawktalon.

"I apologize Silverfinch," the pale yellow tom said as he looked at her worriedly. "Is something wrong? You look like you've seen a badger."

Silverfinch backed away slowly, expecting his brown eyes to turn a bloody red. She ran over to the fresh-kill pile and forced herself to eat a vole even though her stomach was twisting around uneasily as she thought of the blood that had oozed from his eyes in her dream.

When she was finished she stood up quickly and left camp. She decided that hunting would help her get her mind of off her dream which was actually more of a nightmare. She didn't know if it meant something or if it had anything to do with Rootpath's message but she wanted to know and she wanted to figure it out.

Silverfinch whipped around in alarm when she heard a voice from behind her. For a moment she thought she was hearing Lostsoul's but realized that she was standing face to face with Coldscar. The solid black and white tom's icy cold blue gaze was narrowed at her and he looked as if he had been running for several moons at a time.

"What are you doing here?!" Silverfinch hissed.

"A creature that looks like a fox but is as big as a dog has attacked our Clan! TreeClan must come help us!" Lostsoul pleaded. Silverfinch looked closely at him and noticed that there were multiple wounds that she hadn't seen at first. She began to grow worried and meowed, "I'll come, but I'm not about to bring my Clan into any unknown danger."

Coldscar stared at her in disbelief and meowed, "But you won't be enough, you'll be killed." He looked back towards the thunderpath where he must've crossed to get to TreeClan territory, looking more troubled than ever.

Silverfinch sighed and looked towards the thunderpath and wondered if Whitestream had been right, but in the wrong way. Maybe she was the cat that had to not only save her Clan, but all four Clans. She shook her head and said to herself, _remember Silverfinch, you're nothing that special. _

"Will you come?" Coldscar asked, interrupting her thoughts. Silverfinch looked up at him and took a deep breath before she dipped her head respectfully and raced towards the thunderpath, not even thinking as she darted across it. She was lucky that she had just dodged the monster that had ran across it heartbeats after she had made it to the other side.

Silverfinch reached DarkClan camp and barrelled her way inside fearlessly. She reared up onto her hind legs and let out an ear-deafening yowl, announcing her arrival. She felt all of DarkClan rest their gazes on her evilly and looked around wonderingly. No blood, no yowling, no fighting, and no creature seemed to be present in the camp. She felt a cat push her down onto her stomach and gasped.

Redstar had pinned her down and was sinking his claws into her shoulders, causing her to yowl out in pain. 

**Author's Note:**

**This will be the last chapter of this book from this series. From now on I will be working on the second book. In two weeks I will post the Allegiances and Prol****ogue and then maybe one chapter depending if I want to or not. Once every week after that I will post a new chapter. Hopefully it will be better structured this time.**

**Have any questions about this book that you would like me to try and answer in the second one? Post a review please, and let me know how you've liked this book!**


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